


On Love: Storge

by shark_meat



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Parents, Childhood, Dad!Viktor, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, adoption au, child!yuri, dad!Yuuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 20:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9256865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shark_meat/pseuds/shark_meat
Summary: “When are we going to have kids?”Yuuri thought he might pass out, but in the end heeded to his husband's wish. Next thing he knows there's another Yuri in their lives. A blond one with a bad attitude, but Viktor insists he'll grow out of it.AU where Yuuri wins gold at the Grand Prix and he and Viktor adopt little Yurio.





	1. Little Spark

**Author's Note:**

> There are quite a few changes from the canon in this AU but the main ones to know are that Yuuri won gold at the Grand Prix and that Yuri Plisetsky is a child.  
> Other characters who are aged down are: Otabek, Leo, and Guang. They may make a later appearance but I'm still deciding.  
> The Grand Prix winners were Yuuri in first, J.J. in second, and Phichit in third (cause he deserved it).

Storge _\-- the love a parent feels for a child. Effortless love. Love that knows forgiveness, acceptance, and sacrifice_

* * *

 

“When are we going to have kids?”

Yuuri felt a shiver run down his back. It had been about six months since he won gold at the Grand Prix. Three months since Yuuri and Viktor got married on the beaches of Hasetsu with friends and family watching. Then there was the honeymoon, though everyone teased that the two were still going at it like it was their wedding night. They weren’t wrong. It was all happening so fast but Yuuri loved every moment of it. He woke up smiling every time he saw Viktor next to him. His ring on his finger had a new, lovely weight to it.

Viktor now worked alongside Yakov training the next great Russian figure skater. Yuuri had become a bit of a housewife taking care of their apartment and Makkachin. But he still practiced his skating. Viktor was always there to tease and critique him. In some ways, nothing had changed. But then the rink started giving classes to children

 _Real_  children who wore tiny skates and too many layers of clothing thanks to their worried parents. Yuuri didn’t think much of it till he found Viktor teaching children the penguin walk and playing Simon Says with them. He even dragged Yuuri out to show them the Falling Game. The kids got a real kick out of watching two gold medalist flop down onto the ice. It helped that Yuuri and Viktor kept trying to one-up each other in how they could fall. Viktor’s all had a dramatic flair, landing with one leg in the air and a hand on his forehead that said ‘ _woe is me_.’ Yuuri had an awkwardness that made the children laugh, sometimes attempting to catch himself before falling flat onto the ice. The kids were all champs and by the end were laughing as they fell onto the ice.

After class, the two watched as parents skated alongside their children, holding hands and squeezing their cheeks. Yuuri thought about the triplets back at Ice Castle. Viktor thought of much bigger things.

“Yuuri, don’t you think kids would be nice?” Viktor spoke as if he were talking about changing up the decorating in their apartment.

“Well… of course. But, when were you thinking?”

Viktor smiled, his icy blue eyes closing with joy. “Right now!”

Yuuri thought he might pass out.

* * *

 

There was rarely a time Yuuri had to ask Viktor what he wanted. He always touched his lips when he wanted a kiss. He would come home from the rink gabbing about the bakery he passed by and Yuuri knew he wanted something special for dessert. Before their wedding, Yuuri found plenty of bridal magazines, but they all featured one white suit prominently. Subtly was not one of Viktor’s charms.

So of course, he didn’t have to ask if Viktor had been serious when he said he wanted children. Ever since that day he’d been pointing out families on the street and mentioning the kids who came to the ice rink. While they were out shopping he spent a good three minutes fawning over a pair of baby socks. In the moment Yuuri found it adorable. Only when he was alone and trying to imagine himself as a father did he really start to panic.

“I’m not crazy, it’s too soon right?” Yuuri sat on the bed with his cellphone glued to his ear. Phichit didn’t even have the chance to respond before Yuuri was going on again. “I love Viktor and I love kids but together? Right now? Is that even legal?”

“Not sure there’s a law against it, Yuuri.”

There should be. Just like there should be a law you can’t get married till you know how to cook pasta. Yuuri had no idea till he moved in with Viktor at the end of the Grand Prix but the man was useless it came to cooking. Apparently, Viktor lived off Yakov's cooking and take-out. Yuuri had taken a nap after a long day of moving boxes when he woke up to the smell of something burning. Viktor wanted to surprise him with some katsudon. Almost burning down the apartment certainly was a surprise of its own.

This man wanted to have children.

Yuuri flopped onto the bed. “Where did this even come from.”

"It’s not like you guys took anything slow. What you knew each other for about a year before the engagement?” Yuuri did the math in his head. A year and a half, all this nonsense had happened in just a year in a half.

“Well…” Yuuri hadn't bought the rings for engagement purposes. But he never said they  _weren’t_  engagement rings, to Viktor or anyone.

“Then you guys were engaged for three months and  _boom!_  Ladies and gentlemen, Viktor and Yuuri Katsuki-Nikiforov! I mean, wow talk about a power couple. I think I saw your wedding photos on every news site for a week.”

“You took most of them,” Yuuri pointed out.

“And good thing I did. You guys didn’t even have time to find a good photographer.”

“But this is—“

“Different, yeah. A big deal. But so is a coach marrying his student. Again, not new territory for you two.”

Yuuri bit his lip. Out of the two of them, Yuuri always thought he would be the one trying to catch a bouquet at Pitchit’s wedding, not the other way around.

He thought of the three months he and Viktor had been married. Three wonderful months filled with touching and laughing and bickering and teasing. They were a proper married couple, everyone said so. And didn’t proper married couples have kids? A bunch of them? The single suggestion from Viktor had left Yuuri spinning. But thinking it over, maybe everything had been moving too fast and Viktor put the brakes on it, like a bullet train making a surprise stop. Bringing another person—a  _child_ , into their lives would certainly slow some things down.

“Am I even old enough to be a… dad?” Saying the word was like lifting a ten-ton weight with just his tongue.

“Why don’t you ask someone with kids?”

* * *

 

“Ah, really!? You two are going to have kids?” Even over video chat Yuuko’s smile was infectious.

Yuuri chuckled, “well, we’re  _talking_  about it.”

Takeshi was a bit more reserved. “What, are you two going to adopt? Have a surrogate or something?”

“We… haven’t really gotten that far.

Takeshi let out a belly laugh. “Yeah, it’s a lot more complicated for two men. Yuuko and I didn’t have much planning at all.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Really weren’t planning for triplets.”

Yuuko elbowed her husband in the stomach. “You make it sound like you were the one giving birth to them. Think how I felt with the doctor saying, just one more Yuuko! One more to go!”

“See no matter what you don’t have to deal with the pregnancy. Viktor isn’t going to be craving chocolate milk and refusing to eat eggs.”

“Guys,” Yuuri chimed. “I know I’m not going to have any of that but everything else…” his voice trailed. “Am I ready for it? Are we ready for it?”

“Yes!” Yuuko sang.

“Talk to Viktor,” Takeshi added just before his wife continued.

“Yuuri, having kids is the best thing in the world. You get to watch them learn and grow. And you have a little version of you! Well, the girls are more like Takeshi—“

“They have your passion,” Takeshi pointed out.

“And your tendency to cause trouble.” Yuuko’s face went soft. “Yuuri, I think you and Viktor would make great parents. And no matter what you decide, it’s not like you two are going to become dad’s tomorrow.”

“Nine months is a long time to prepare—for better or for worse,” Takeshi added.

Time kept being a factor. Eighteen months Yuuri and Viktor had been together, nine months for a baby to be born, at least eighteen years of raising a child. Things were moving too fast and yet too slow—for Viktor at least. Even with all this Yuuko was right, nothing was going to change tomorrow.

Unless Yuuri wanted it too.

“Thanks you two. Really.”

* * *

 

Yuuri was untying his skates when the beginners class poured in. “Vitya!” one of the girls called, waving her hands wildly. Yuuri looked up from his skates, catching a glimpse of the children smiling at Viktor with anticipation.

“You sure are popular. Those kids have good taste.”

Viktor chuckled, running his fingers through Yuuri’s hair. “Yakov says I dote on them too much but’s never been the type to give much praise.”

Yuuri looked up at him “And you have?” Yuuri recalled the kiss and cry being more of a kiss and critique during the Grand Prix.

“Ah, well how can you scold such cute faces?”

Yuuri watched as the parents of the children helped them with their skates and scarves. Even with Viktor’s enthusiasm some of the kids looked ambivalent to get on the ice, clinging to their parent’s side. Before he knew Yuuko, Yuuri was hesitant to skate. The idea of being alone on the ice was scary, even now. But today he had Viktor by his side and back then he had his parents.

Mom and dad back at the hot spring... They may not have known much about skating (even now they were still a bit clueless) but they supported him and urged him to continue the sport. You could call the Katsuki’s many things, but opposing wasn’t one of them. Most parents would have kicked Mari out by now or nagged her about getting married and looking more ‘pretty.’ But mom and dad didn’t care that their daughter smoked and dyed her hair. She already called herself a spinster and no one made a fuss about it. Then there was him and Viktor, his coach one minute and fiancé the next. Yuuri might have been able to hold off on the announcement if Mari and Minako hadn't been there in Barcelona, but his parents reacted with smiles and a couple whoops from his father. The reaction to the on-ice kiss had been similar. 

Parents could be many things and have kids who turned out alright. But Yuuri refused to be anything but supportive—to any member of his family.

Yuuri took Viktor’s hand and pulled it away from his hair. Viktor looked down, a bit miffed to no longer be petting his lover. Yuuri giggled and gave Viktor’s hand a light squeeze. “Is that what you want? Little cute faces you can spend your days dotting on?”

“Well…” Viktor sat down next to Yuuri. He pressed his forehead agonists his. “I already have your cute face to pamper. But I meant it when I said we should have children. Right now.”

Yuuri gave Viktor a knowing smile. “You’ve never been the type to lie, especially about the things you want.”

Viktor blinked, his forehead still glued to Yuuri's. “Why do you bring it up?”

“I didn't say much that day. Really I didn’t know how to feel. But I’ve thought about it and…” Viktor’s eyes shimmered like the ice beside them. “I want to have a child with you. Right now.”

Next thing Yuuri knew he was on the ground, Viktor on top of him. What should have been a loving hug turned into a wolf attack, but instead of ripping Yuuri apart, the silver dog gave him loving kisses—all over. Viktor must have kissed every inch of Yuuri’s face, muttering “really?” and “yes!” and Yuuri’s name over and over.

Yuuri had to push him away. “W-we still have a lot to talk about! How are we going to have the child and—“

“I want to adopt,” Viktor announced.

“Alright well, that answers that question.”

“Wouldn’t it be great Yuuri?” Viktor sat up, still straddling Yuuri’s hips. “It won’t just be for us; we can give a little one a better life.” Viktor’s hands rested on his heart, the thought of it making his heart beat faster.

“That does sound nice.”

“And you can teach them Japanese and I can teach them to skate—“

“Wait, wait.” Yuuri sat up. “I want to teach them to skate too.”

“Oh, of course. I was just thinking since I’ve won the Gran Prix five times…”

Yuuri frowned, but there was glimmer in his eye. “Are you going to teach them to cook or am I going to have to do that too?”

“You always bring that up!”

“You tried to bake the rice in the oven. How do you think rice works?”

Viktor pouted. “You’re so mean.” Yuuri quickly darted forward to kiss Viktor on the cheek. “You better not be this mean to our little angel.” Yuuri kissed his chin. “Because I won’t stand for it.”

“And I won’t stand for you spoiling our child.” He took Viktor’s hand. “See? We’re already setting boundaries. Like parents.”

Viktor smiled. He wrapped his arms around Yuuri and pulled him into a hug. “You’re going to be such a good papa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a theory that Viktor has the cooking skills of a college freshman. Baking rice is the least of his issues.  
> Chapter two should be up soon!


	2. First Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told myself I wouldn't use google translate but gosh do I love when Viktor calls Yuuri dorogoy.

Yuuri made the mistake of researching adoption on his own.

Viktor had insisted they go through this process together even if it might be easier for the child to just be adopted in Viktor's name. Yuuri agreed to it, was ecstatic about the child being both Viktor and his own, but there were just some basic things he didn’t know. Like all the state orphanages and the new regulations put into place by the government. Viktor seemed to know all of this. “You just weren’t around to hear about it,” Viktor assured him, his head resting atop Yuuri’s. “You hear about these things on the news. Not like I know anything about adoption in Japan.” Of course, Yuuri was as just as clueless when it came to Japanese adoption.

It should have been simple enough to just read up on some things (though deciphering googles translate did add an extra challenge). But ‘some things’ spiraled into reading about the worst of the worse cases—most of which affected the children more than the parents. Even moving away from the tear-jerking stories, Yuuri found himself staring at hundreds of children in dilapidated houses playing with toys that looked much older than any of the kids. Even when he managed to pull himself away from the computer what he saw followed him like a lost puppy. Fitting since most of the kids in the system where treated like little more than strays.

Viktor came home to find Yuuri curled up on the couch in a blanket with Makkachin resting on his lap. Putting his puddle-like state aside Viktor could see something was bothering him. “Dorogoy,” he sang sitting next to him. “You look upset. Did something happen?”

“No…” It wasn’t really a lie. Not like years of neglect he'd been reading about happened between Viktor’s leaving for work and coming home.

Viktor furrowed his brows, “Yuuri...” He placed his head on Yuuri’s shoulder and rested a hand on Makkachin’s soft fur. “Look at me.” Yuuri hesitated, knowing full well he’d crumble looking into Viktor’s eyes. His icy blue gaze was like staring into two crystal balls, magical and a touch dangerous.

He didn't hold out for long, looking at Viktor and sputtering, “it’s just sad. All those kids…”

Viktor’s eyes grew wide. Then he started to laugh. “I told you not to read that stuff without me.” He pulled Yuuri into his chest. “I know it’s sad but you’ve got to look at the bright side. At least one of those kids is going to live with us.”

“I want to adopt them all,” Yuuri whined.

“A week ago you didn’t want any kids.”

“That is not true! I just didn’t know if I wanted them now.”

“So you always knew you wanted to be a father?” Viktor asked, his hand moving up to rub Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Yuuri hummed. “I just always saw myself having kids. Helping them with homework… Tucking them in at night… " He felt Viktor’s lips touch the crown of his head. "Being called daddy.”

“I could have been calling you daddy a long time ago,” Viktor interjected. Yuuri playfully pushed him away. Viktor continued, “I always wanted to know what that love felt like. The love a parent has for a child.”

“The love…” Yuuri thought aloud. He’d never thought about that sort of love. Maybe because he always imagined it to be the same kind of love he felt for his family or maybe because he simply never felt it. Then again Yuuri wasn’t very experienced in love. Viktor was his first and his only. His eros and his agape, as he was sure plenty of tabloid magazines had already pointed out. Even as his first love Yuuri felt the difference between his love for Viktor and the love for his family or friends. That love he knew was similar. Minako and Phitchit were his family. Anything he would do for Mari or his mother he would do for them. But a love for a child... that really was a whole new type of love.

Yuuri rested his head on Viktor’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding that.” He smiled. “I’m surprised you didn’t just run out and bring a kid home one day to surprise me.”

“Noooo,” he vexed. “I would never do that to you. Besides, the paperwork takes ages. You would have caught on.”

“Good to know,” Yuuri replied vacantly.

* * *

 “Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Phichit cooed. Yuuri was holding the laptop over his shoulder to show his friend the piles of paperwork on the kitchen table. All stacked perfectly so nothing was misplaced. Everything needing signatures, social security numbers, health information, etcetera—and all of it was Russian. Yuuri would call himself a novice when it came to the language, while Viktor argued he had learned a lot in the eight months he’d been living there. Especially since all their friends spoke English fluently. Still, he was clueless when it came to reading what was closer to Egyptian hieroglyphs than the English alphabet. 

“What do they even need all that info for?”

“Who knows,” Yuuri shrugged. “But I’m sure they need all of it. It’s not like we’re just renting an apartment or something.”

“They should let you rent out kids. Like a test run to see if you’re ready to be a parent.” Yuuri didn’t respond. “Wow, fatherhood has made you stiff, Yuuri.”

“You just described baby-sitting, Phichit.” He set the laptop down on the counter. “And if you’re lucky I’ll let you watch over my kid someday.”

Just then Viktor rushed into the kitchen, Makkachin nipping at his heals. Yuuri was about to ask what all the fuss was about when he saw the manila envelope in Viktor’s hand. Yuuri gasped before meeting him at the kitchen table. As they carefully opened the envelope Yuuri could hear Phichit on the other line calling, “Hello? What’s going on? Guys!”

Inside the envelope was a folder with a photo paper-clipped to the cover. Yuuri stared down at it. A little boy with blonde hair and green eyes that could only be described as emerald stared back at him. The boy and Viktor had the same pale skin and heavy-lidded eyes. Even the boy’s hair reminded him of Viktor, a light gold that complemented Viktor’s silver. Sapphire and silver, emeralds and gold. Yuuri couldn’t help but smile, the boy already a treasure in his mind.

“Hello!?” Phichit’s shout snapped Yuuri back to the kitchen. He turned the laptop to face the kitchen table.

“Sorry Phichit, we just got our file. Or, I should say our… son’s file?” It felt too soon to call the boy that. As easy as it was to fall into the daydream of playing games and hold his hand through the streets of St. Petersburg, nothing was set in stone yet.

“What? Show me!” Viktor carefully slipped the photo out from under the paperclip, bringing it over to the webcam. “Aw, he’s cute. Kinda looks like a sour-puss but I’m sure you two will fix that right up.”

“Do you always talk bad about other people’s kids?” Viktor asked.

Yuuri chuckled, taking the photo from Viktor’s hand. Looking at the whole picture and not just his features, the boy did seem a bit upset. His lips were in a hard line and his eyes were squinted like he had just been asked to finish off his bell-peppers. Yuuri had expected as much, the kid was living without a family. But he had expected a sadness in the boy's eyes, like those puppies in the shelter commercials. Instead, the boy looked like he was about to throw a fit. “What is his name?” Yuuri asked absentmindedly.

Viktor grabbed the file. “Yuri Plisetsky.” He paused, reading the name over again in his head. “Yes, Yuri is his name.”

Phichit furrowed his brows. “That’s a bit confusing. Two Yuuris.”

“I think it’s cute. He can be little Yuri, or moë since he has the hair.”

“Or rybka,” Yuuri added.

“Ah! Yes! You’re learning so fast, Yuuri.”

Phichit just shook his head, having no clue what the two were going on about now. But he didn't mind. They could be going on about drapes and it would still be a joy to watch. Yuuri had been so reserved about their relationship back when they were engaged. Now here they were talking like excited school kids about their _child_. It was enough to give someone a cavity—and reminded Phichit of another duo. “Oh, did you guys hear? J.J. and Isabelle are pregnant! Well, Isabelle is pregnant but J.J. is posting about it as if he’s the one having the baby.”

Handing the laptop to Viktor Yuuri grabbed his cellphone. Phichit was right. In the span of thirty-minuets, J.J. managed to post about five different pictures of himself and Isabelle celebrating the good news. There was even one just for the three pregnancy tests she’d taken, all showing a positive pink. Yuuri couldn’t help but soften at the sight of their happiness, the pair clearly elated at the news. 

Viktor looked over Yuuri’s shoulder. “We have to beat them.”

Yuuri almost dropped his phone. “What?”

“It was our idea to have a baby first! We can’t like that Le-joy guy beat us!”

“Viktor we didn’t come up with the idea of having a child!”

“Did you just call him Leejoy?” Phichit asked, chuckling. “Oh man—I wish J.J. had heard you say that. Talk about a priceless photo. Move over pee-sticks.”

Yuuri frowned. “You two are so negative. I think it’s sweet.”

Viktor and Phichit looked at one another. “You’ll make sure we have the cuter photos, right?”

“ _Oh_ ,” Phichit sighed emphatically. “You know I will."

* * *

 As Yuuri practiced his spins he could hear Yakov and Viktor talking at the edge of the ice. It helped that Yakov’s default volume was yelling, especially with Viktor. It was clear the two had a good enough relationship for Yakov’s harsh words not to affect Viktor, but Yuuri still felt shivers go down his spine when he spoke to him. Across the ice, Yuuri felt his legs shake, which was not good when he was spinning around like a top.

“It’s been almost a year and you two have been sitting around making googly eyes at one another!”

“That’s a bit of a simplification Yakov and you know it.”

So they were talking about their relationship. Yuuri bailed out of his spin and skated over to two men. “What are you two going on about?” He asked as he skated to the railing.

“You two are getting soft. Most skaters would have gone to a couple events or at least come up with an exhibition program. But you two—“

“I already have several programs planned out,” Viktor boasted, giving Yuuri a knowing smile. Yuuri managed to smile back but his eyes kept flicking back to Yakov, worried he’d get the horns of an angry Russian man.

“Then let’s see them!” Yakov exclaimed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “There are plenty of events in Tokyo. I’m sure they’d love to see Yuuri back on the ice. Bonus if you show up.” He placed a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. Yuuri recalled the Viktor’s younger years, back at the beginning of his senior debut. Viktor and Yakov might be business partners now, but he always fell back into his coaching ways with Viktor. Yuuri got the sense Viktor didn’t mind it. Even if he never said anything—to Yuuri or Yakov.

“Vitya, a skater never fully retires. Especially with you trying to coach. You have to put yourself out there, show people you haven’t lost touch. Yuuri winning gold certainly put you in high demand.” He furrowed his thick brows. “But you can not just sit in your apartment talking about skating without showing the goods, alright?!”

Viktor crossed his arms over his chest. “What about when we adopt our child? Who is going to watch him while we’re gone?”

“Mila can watch him.”

Mila didn’t even look up from her phone. “I never agreed to that!” she shouted from across the ice.

“What about you Yakov? Will you watch over our little angel?”

“Any child raised by you, Viktor, is far from any angel.” He turned to Yuuri, his piercing blue eyes making Yuuri stand up straight. “But Katsuki’s boy will be hardworking and actually _respect_ people like me. So we all have that to look forward too.” With that Yakov turned to leave.

Yuuri placed his elbows on the railing, hanging his head in his hands. “God that man is exhausting…”

“He likes you,” Viktor pointed out.

“Doesn’t feel like it!”

Mila skated up behind him, popping one foot in the air as she landed. “I will babysit for you two if you want. But I’m not doing it for Yakov.”

“Thanks, Mila,” Yuuri sighed.

* * *

 Viktor Nikiforov was not the type to get nervous. The sun had just risen over the horizon, pink and yellow painting the windows of Kiyevsky Station. Their train had arrived just twenty minutes ago and they waited for their ride to the orphanage outside the city. Yuuri clung to the file they had received a month ago, detailing the history of a boy named Yuri living in an orphanage on the outskirts of the city after his mother was deemed ill-equipped to raise him. Viktor and Yuuri didn't talk about that piece of information. Something about it made them feel ill.

The pair had been so careful with the file, keeping every page in place, it was almost as if neither of them had bothered to read it. The only change was that the picture sent to them of Yuri was gone. Now hung up on the kitchen fridge the way most parents hung up school photos. Nothing was set in stone yet of course. The photo was just a reminder, a sort of finish line. Every time the paperwork got to be too much or Yuuri found himself questioning if this would really work out, little Yuri was there as a reminder. Yuuri thought the photo was just for himself, but now watching Viktor stare at his shoes and pick as his nails he started to worry his husband wasn’t going to make it. Yuuri took his hand. “Viktor?” He leaned down to look at Viktor’s face, his cheeks pink from the morning chill.

Even on the train ride over Viktor had gripped Yuuri's hand the way people did when it was their first time on a plane. He didn't take the complimentary coffee or eat much of a breakfast. Yuuri forced him to eat a danish from the dining car just so he knew his husband wouldn't pass out. It might have been funny to watch a champion like Viktor shake in his boots, but Yuuri too felt his stomach do quads. Yuuri took his hand. “Viktor?” He leaned down to look at Viktor’s face, his cheeks pink from the morning chill.

Yuuri took his hand. “Viktor?” He leaned down to look at Viktor’s face, his cheeks pink from the morning chill. Viktor had been his rock through all the competitions. It was Yuuri's turn to step up. “You know no matter what happens today, we’re still going to keep pushing, right?”

“Right,” Viktor replied like a soldier to his commander.

“I was ready to fight for years for that gold so we could be together.” Viktor turned to his husband, his gaze glossed over. It reminded Yuuri of that night in the hotel room just before the final. Yuuri tucked the file under his arm and cupped Viktor’s cheek, ready to catch any tears that might fall. “This is going to happen for us Viktor. I promise.” Just as he finished talking the van from the orphanage rolled up to the curb. Yuuri didn’t let go of Viktor’s hand as they slid into the back seat. Inside Viktor seemed to relax, rubbing Yuuri’s knuckle with his thumb.

He smiled for the first time that morning. “I wonder how little Yuri will react to meeting us.”

* * *

Yuuri couldn’t be sure, his Russian was still rudimentary, but he was pretty sure he heard a child yell, “don’t touch me hag!” from the room at the end of the hall. “Is that…”

“Is that…”

“That is Yuri boy, yes, yes.” Klava, the orphanage director said. She was a round woman with bright blonde hair who must have been a fan of Viktor as she spoke rapid fire Russian when the two got out of the van. Yuuri had been able to pick up little words like “glad” and “skating” just fine. It wasn’t too surprising. Most people in Russia seemed to be fans of Viktor, which made date night hard. Yuuri hadn’t been expecting the director to be so fervent about meeting Viktor when the child they were supposed to meet was apparently having a fit upstairs.

“Is he alright?”

“Yes, no problems,” she assured him in her broken English. Viktor stepped in, the two speaking in rapid-fire Russian. Yuuri knew his Russian was bad but he was pretty sure he could carry on a conversation if she just slowed down for a second. When they were done speed-talking Viktor took Yuuri’s arm. “We’ll wait for him downstairs.” Yuuri didn’t have much of a choice except to nod and follow Viktor to a playroom on the first floor.

“I don’t think he wants to see us,” Yuuri said dejected as he sat on a pink plastic chair apart of a children’s play set.

Viktor leaned against the curling wallpaper. “Maybe he’s just nervous?” Yuuri felt a shiver run down his back. Seeing Viktor fidget was one thing but actually hearing him question himself was much harder to swallow.

The pair sat in silence as they waited for someone to come in. Yuri, Klava, some other worker—just something to break the tension in the room. Yuuri hung his head in his hands while Viktor studied the water stains on the ceiling. The two perked up as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Klava opened the door, a little boy standing beside her. “Yuri is here,” she chimed as if the whole affair upstairs had never happened.

Yuri’s hands were wrapped up in the hem of his faded tee-shirt with a tiger on it. He pulled it down so low a fair amount of his chest could be seen from his stretched out collar. His hair was longer than in the picture and his bangs had grown out past his forehead. But he refused to push them out of the way. He seemed very interested in the playroom floor.

Yuuri was the first to speak. “Um… Yuri, Zdrastvooyte.” Little Yuri looked up, giving Yuuri a better look at his scrunched up face and pouted lips. Yuuri pointed at his own shirt. “Kot! Milo!”

Yuri’s frown faded into a look of confusion. He started speaking in Russian, which Yuuri desperately tried to translate. It was something along the lines of, “who is this weirdo?”

Again, Viktor stepped in, walking over to little Yuri and falling down to his knees. “ _Yuri, my name is Viktor. And that is also Yuuri._ ” He pointed back to Yuuri, who also made his way across the room to stand beside Viktor. “ _We’ve been waiting to meet you!_ ”

Yuri’s head cock to the side, his hair swishing about like grain in the wind. “Ty moy pap?” Yuuri didn’t need help translating.

He smiled so much he wondered if it was possible to cramp up from smiling so much. It didn’t stop him from announcing, “Da!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Viktor ever remember who J.J. is? Probably not.  
> I'm not an expert on adoption by any far stretch of the imagination. Most of what I use in the fic comes from a movie called The Dark Matter of Love where an American family adopts three children from Russia. I did some side research as well but in general, the fic is going to focus more on Viktor and Yuuri as parents and less on the whole adoption thing. Which is why we're speeding through these couple months till they finally can take Yuri home.  
> Also, moë is a term of endearment for children meaning gold while rybka means fish and was popularized by the story The Golden Fish (at least that's what I've read).


	3. Lion's Den

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more google translate-- I refuse. All the conversations between Yurio and Yuuri are in Russian but very basic Russian (which I tried to make clear in the dialogue choices).  
> Also this chapter does include a use of the Q-slur but also a reclaiming of it. Just a heads-up.

“And that’s the best tree _,”_  Yuri pointed. He held onto Viktor’s forefinger with his hand

“Why is it the best?” Viktor asked.

“I can climb it really high.”

Yuuri laughed, standing beside little Yuri. The boy had calmed down in the playroom, too interested in the two men to really throw a fit. He started asking them questions about skating and their home, which Viktor was happy to answer. Yuuri understood most of what the boy said and occasionally chimed in. He was the one to bring up Makkachin “Do you like dogs, Yuri?”

Yuri didn’t hesitate “ _No_.”

“Um…” Yuuri stammered not sure what to say next—or exactly how to say it. “You’ll like Makkachin!”

“I like cats. This is my favoritest cat.” He went over to one of the toy bins and pulled out a worn lion plush. It was rather sad looking with its mane matted and parts of its fur worn down, but Yuri hugged it and pressed his cheeks against it.

Viktor literally gasped, grabbing his chest. “He’s so cute!” he told Yuuri in English.

They decided to take a walk outside the orphanage. Yuuri caring the stuffed lion as they went cradling it in in his arms like a baby. It was so worn he rip its fur, and it seemed to matter so much to Yuri he decided it deserved as much. It was actually quite soft from the many years of love from all different children. It was also floppy, it’s head practically falling off.

Eventually, they reached a picnic table. The three took a seat, Yuuri and Viktor on one side with little Yuri and his lion friend on the other. “Yuri,” Viktor started while Yuri made his lion friend dance. “I know you’ve just met us, but how would you feel about living with us?”

Yuri didn’t look away from his lion. “In Moscow?”

Viktor shook his head. “No, we live in St. Petersburg.”

Still holding the lion’s legs Yuri looked across the table. “Where is that?”

“Up north, near Finland. Do you know where that is?”

“How far?” Yuri’s brows furrowed and he started to resemble their photo on the fridge.

“About four hours on a train,” Yuuri told him.

Yuri threw down the lion, crossing his arms over his chest. He huffed, “I don’t wanna go.”

Viktor jumped. “Why?”

“Moscow! I stay in Moscow!”

Yuuri leaned across the table, managing a smile. “Yuri, the train is fast.”

“No!” he shouted. Then began to shout it over and over shaking his head back and forth.

“What wrong?” Klava made her way across the yard. She didn’t seem angry or at all surprised by Yuri’s fit. She came to the table and torched Yuri’s shoulders, softly speaking to him in Russian.

Yuri shook his shoulders and yelled, “don’t touch me, hag!” Klava then grabbed him under the arms, lifting him up and caring him, saying something about a nap. Yuri kicked his legs wildly but couldn’t shake off Klava.

As the pair walked away Yuri and Viktor looked at each other. “He doesn’t want…” Viktor’s eyes fell to the table.

“I think he’s just scared Viktor.” He placed his hand over Viktor’s. “I’m a little scared too—“

“Why?” Viktor asked defensively.

“Because, Viktor, this is a big deal. We’ve never had kids, and Yuri has never had a proper family. Wouldn’t you be scared?”

“No.”

Yuuri cringed, Viktor’s tone so reminiscent of Yuri’s. His jaw was tight. “Viktor…” Yuuri took a deep breath. “Can't you be afraid with me?” Viktor's brows raised. He opened his mouth to speak but Yuuri cut him off. “I am scared Viktor. I’m scared of messing up, I’m scared things won’t work out.” He adverted his eyes from Viktor, looking back at the stuffed lion Yuri left on the table. “I’m scared he’ll hate us no matter what we do.” His voice cracked at the end.

Yuuri wasn’t sure there was a time when he genuinely hated his parents. He never said anything but sometimes, during those five years he was away from home, he wanted nothing more than to see them. And when he couldn’t he blamed them for it. It was an easy way to deal with it. Blaming two people who weren’t there to defend or explain themselves. Yuuri doubted his parents ever noticed his resentment even over their telephone conversations. But ever since he and Viktor started the work to have their own child, he’d felt a sense of guilt.

“Please don’t let me be alone.” Yuuri looked back at his husband. Viktor’s mouth was agape and his eyes had a shine to them that could only be the beginning of tears.

Before Yuuri could reach up to touch is face Viktor wrapped his hands around Yuuri’s cheeks, holding him in his hands. “Yes,” he said finally. “Okay. I’m with you, Yuuri.”

Still holding onto Yuuri Viktor looked out into the yard. “I need to go for a walk.” Yuuri placed a hand atop Viktor’s to get his attention before nodding in agreement. Viktor had a right to be worried. They both did. Yuuri knew he said some pretty heavy things, but it had to be said. Viktor would be able to work through some things on his walk. Hopefully.

Viktor kissed Yuuri’s forehead before leaving. Yuuri watched Viktor wander off before grabbing the stuffed lion Yuri had left behind. He went back inside and upstairs where Yuri’s room was. One of the workers, another older woman with a kerchief wrapped over her head, was sitting on a chair outside his room knitting. The rest of the children’s doors were open, showing a bare bedroom with nothing but a bed and desk. There were a couple children inside, reading or just sitting alone, but most had gone downstairs to play.

Yuri’s room was the only one with a closed door. “Um,” Yuuri started, getting the attention of the older woman. He pointed at the door. “May I go?” he asked, hoping his Russian was good enough for her to understand. The woman nodded, leaning over to turn the nob. The door clicked and swung just an inch open. Yuuri pushed the door open the rest of the way. He poked his head in. “Yuri?”

The boy was sitting on his bed, looking down at his feet. His shoes and socks had been tossed aside. He didn’t look like he’d been trying to nap whatsoever, but at least he seemed to have calmed down. Yuuri took a couple steps into the room, holding out the lion. “You left this.” Yuri glanced up at him before snatching the lion out of his hand. He pulled the toy to his chest, his chin resting on the lion’s head.

Yuuri leaned down, falling to one knee. “Yuri,” he said again. This time little Yuri looked at him. “I hope you live with us.”

The boy looked back at his feet, hugging his lion tighter. “Okay…”

* * *

 Any time Yuuri set his phone down he could be sure Viktor would text him another photo of something cute to get little Yuri. Most of the stuff was admittedly, very cute. Little lion onesies and skates for toddlers. But Yuuri had to put a stop to the little suits with neck ruffles and tiny cummerbunds. “What makes you think he’s going to wear that?” He texted. “I’m pretty sure he hates wearing shirts let alone a suit.”

“But think how cute!!!” Viktor would text back, usually followed up by a string of emojis. Though that might have been Mila’s doing. They often went shopping together on their breaks from the rink and lord knew she loved making Viktor look silly—insisting it was the hip, new thing to use every emoji on the keyboard. Viktor always thought gullible was written on the ceiling.

Yuuri would just text back “NO” and hope for the best. Viktor was pretty good about listening. He’d gotten most of the shopping out of his system when they were buying things for Yuri’s room, filled with a few too many stuffed animals. That was Yuuri's fault. He’d given in to buying every big cat stuffed animal the store had. Little Yuri had his own pride of lions now.

As cute as it was, Yuuri worried the boy would drown in plush every time he went to bed. So they bought a little hammock to keep most of Yuri’s toys off the ground and off his bed. “You think he’ll use it?” Viktor asked while they hammered the hammock into the wall.

“I’ll make sure he does.” Growing up in a bath house Yuuri was expected to keep himself and his surroundings clean. After school and after practice he helped his mom do the dishes and on weekends he and his father scrubbed the bathhouse floor’s so clean Yuuri could see himself in them. Mari had it even worse, cleaning the guest rooms and helping with banquets. She used to complain until she saw Yuuri successfully land his first flip jump. Something about it made her realize he wasn’t just sitting around talking about dogs and skating outfits at ice castle.

Viktor, on the other hand, was in the skating game so early and made such an impact he didn’t really have chores. He just jumped back and forth between homeschooling, the rink, and his bed. But he insisted he would find things to scold little Yuri about. “I’ll make sure he’s a gentleman.” Yuuri had snorted as his grand announcement, recalling his  _hag_  comments back at the orphanage. Still, it was something, and Viktor was known to be charming even under the direst of circumstances. There were plenty of infamous questions asked at press conferences. Yuuri’s favorite was when one reporter asked if he was “a queer” and Viktor responded, “we’re all a bit queer here, don’t you think?”

Nothing was planned out completely. They didn’t have a list of who would do what for Yuri and for the house, but everyone said that was for the better. “Plans like that never work out,” Yuuko insisted one night over a skype call. “You think you’re ready for everything and everyone is going to do their part, but someone forgets or gets sick and next thing you know the whole tower comes falling down.” Despite the aggressive analogy, Yuuko laughed. “Just let things happen and it’ll work out. I mean, Takashi and I weren’t planning on triplets and it worked out!” Yuuko managed to be both helpful and hurtful in ways Yuuri couldn’t quite explain. Not that she and Takashi had done a bad job or raising the three girls. They were about as troublesome as any other kids their age. Maybe more tech savvy but Yuuri was sure that would do them well in the long-run.

The evening before they were to pick Yuri up, Viktor was sitting in the child’s room on the bed. His knees were up to his chest the frame was so low to the ground, but he didn’t mind, smiling at the white walls with pictures from story books. While shopping they came across a series of Russian fairytale prints by Ivan Billbin. Yuuri had only gotten a brief synopsis of the stories from Viktor, all of which were pretty odd. The Firebird story had wedding gowns at the bottom of the ocean and hot baths that killed an evil king. Vasilisa the Beautiful was a bit of a Cinderella story but instead of a glass slipper, there was a Baba Yaga. Viktor compared her to an Onibaba, which Yuuri pointed out was a horror story. Viktor insisted Russian fairy tales were just a lot darker. At least the prints were pretty.

Viktor was staring at the print of the huntsman catching the firebird when Yuuri walked in. “Are you nervous?” he asked. The walk at the orphanage had been good for Viktor—for the both of them really. On the train ride back they talked about their fears, the doubts in their mind. Yuuri told Viktor about the anger and guilt he felt towards his parents. Viktor spoke of his own absentee parents, but only briefly.

Viktor laughed, leaning back on the bed. He pushed his bangs out of his eyes. I guess. But a happy nervous.” He smiled and Yuuri smiled back, happy to see he was taking his nerves in stride instead of fighting against them. “Soon this bed won’t be empty and there will be toys scattered everywhere.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Yuuri reminded him.

Viktor extended a hand. “Come here.” Yuuri joined him on the small bed, carefully to lean his weight into Viktor so the bed wouldn’t break. Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri, his lips pressed to his husband’s temple. “So much has happened.” Yuuri nodded. “And none of it would have happened if it wasn’t for you.” His arms wrapped around Yuuri tighter. “Dorogoy… my lucky charm.”

“I love you too.” Yuuri pulled away from Viktor’s chest to press their foreheads together. He laced his fingers with Viktor’s their gold rings brushing against each other. “And I can’t wait to share that love with our son.” He leaned in and gave Viktor a kiss, feeling his husband’s free hand cradle his chin. Yuuri started to giggle, pulling away. “Though I don’t think we should be kissing in his bed. He’d probably hate that.”

* * *

 Viktor was looking out the train window when Yuuri snapped a picture of him. It was quite a shot. Viktor was dashing, as usual, looking out the window clearly contemplating something. It was a rather serious look, save for the stuffed lion on his lap. The toy's face with a sewn on smile was clearly visible in the picture. He silently sent it to Phichit, figuring he’d appreciate it. They both ate on the train, bad coffee, and half decent Danishes. Yuuri had been so nervous the last time he didn’t notice how poor the food was. “Still better than Aeroflot,” Viktor chimed.

When they arrived at the station the van was already waiting for them. The pair held hands the whole ride over, Viktor oven running his thumb over Yuuri’s ring. Yuuri wished he had brought headphones. He always listened to the music for his skates just before going on to perform. Most skaters did. It was a good way to run through the routine one last time and the tunes were often relaxing. Even with everything in order and as ready as he would ever be, Yuuri felt the heavy waves of anxiety wash over him.

When they reached the orphanage a small crowd of children had gathered at the entrance. Yuuri and Viktor looked out the window confused, till the driver explained, “they like to see the new parents. See where the kid is going, you know?” They nodded. Something about being judged by a bunch of kids made Yuuri feel even worse. But there was no turning back now. Still holding Yuuri’s hand Viktor stepped out of the van and up the walkway to the front door. Yuuri could hear the kids murmuring as they walked past.

Yuri was already waiting for them in the front waiting room sitting next to a duffle bag. “Is that all of his things?” Viktor asked.

Klava nodded, “all his clothes are in there.”

Yuri stared at the pair, silent. They weren’t much better, seemingly entranced by the boy. Yuuri noticed little Yuri’s eyes weren’t quite focused on them. Instead, he followed the boys gaze to Viktor’s arms, where the stuffed lion hung. He nudged Viktor. “Viktor, the toy.”

“Oh—right.” Viktor took a step forward, holding out the toy the way medals were presented. “Yuri, this is for you.”

“That…” he reached out and took the toy from Viktor’s hands. “it’s mine?” Viktor nodded, a big smile on his face. Yuuri looked at the toy, touching its velvet nose then running his fingers through its mane.

Klava cleared her throat. “What do you say, Yuri?”

The boy frowned at the woman but still said, “thank you” to Yuuri and Viktor.

Klava handed the duffle bag to Yuuri, who looked at little Yuri expectantly. “Is there anyone here you want to say goodbye to, Yuri?”

“No,” he responded, already playing with his lion.

“Ah, well then maybe we should get going? We can grab something to eat in the city,” Viktor offered.

Yuri jumped out of his seat. “Wait! I gotta say bye!”

“Oh? To who?” He leaned down, touching Yuri’s shoulder. “I would like to meet them too.” Yuri was quiet. He hopped back onto the chair he’d been sitting in and looked out the window, stuffed lion under his arm. Viktor looked at Yuuri, then at Klava for an explanation. The woman just shrugged, and of course, Yuuri was just as clueless as Viktor.

Yuuri met him at the window. “Is your friend outside?” He asked wondering if the person was one of the children gathered outside. He turned back to Yuri, who was frowning again.

With a huff, the boy jumped off the chair. “Let’s go.” Yuuri and Viktor looked back at each other, not sure what to make of that little outburst.

Walking back to the van most of the kids had dispersed. Some waved and yelled goodbye to Yuri, but the excitement of the day was over. Yuuri and Viktor looked around them, wondering what it was Yuri had been looking for. Whatever it was the boy had moved on, now focused on his new toy.


	4. Snapshots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun discussing with people about Yuri's mysterious friend in the last chapter. I'm glad the one "what's gonna happen?" element is intriguing!  
> Well, I guess it's the only "what's gonna happen" element if you don't count the, "will Viktor and Yuuri actually survive being parents or just self-destruct and move to the bottom of the ocean" element.  
> I hope both of them are good swimmers!

“Yuri, slow down!” Little Yuri was stuffing his face with fries as they sat on the platform waiting for their train home. “You’re going to get sick.” Yuuri reached for the boat of fries.

Yuuri reached for the boat of fries but little Yuri was faster, pulling it away and shouting “No!” with his mouth filled with half chewed fries. Yuuri wasn’t sure he even wanted to fight. At least he was sitting down. The last thing anyone wanted was a little kid running around an open train platform. Yuri seemed smarter than to jump onto the tracks, but Yuuri’s paranoia would act up all the same.

Viktor reached over and grabbed a fry for himself. “Hey!” Yuri shouted. “Give it back!”

Viktor ate it without a care. Little Yuri pouted and continued to eat, the lion he’d received tucked under his arm. He refused to let go of it. At least Viktor and Yuuri knew they’d chosen the right gift. Viktor leaned across the bench over Yuuri. He spoke in English, “He’s rather cranky.” Yuri looked up at Viktor, knowing full well they were talking about him.

Yuuri sighed, “he’s probably just nervous. Think about all the stress we’ve been having. He’s got to be having it worse.” The final event at the orphanage was still fresh in his mind. Yuri looking out the window saying he needed to see someone, then abandoning the idea as quickly as it came. It was impossible to tell if Yuri was just upset about leaving or upset about the mysterious person being absent. Or he could be upset about something completely different. Even if Yuuri was fluent in Russian he doubted he could get the answer out of Yuri. Maybe when they got home Viktor could prod him for answers but not now. This train ride was already going to be a long one.

There was a tug on his shirt. Yuuri looked down to see a big pair of green eyes staring back at him. “What are you saying?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Yuuri assured him. He leaned down and pointed to the stuffed lion. “Is he hungry?”

Yuri looked at the lion, then back to his fries. He picked up a fry-bit and pushed it against the lion’s mouth, sewn on smile not moving. Yuuri made a ‘munch’ sound, then hummed like he just ate something tasty. Yuri laughed, his little shoulders shaking. He started to mimic Yuuri’s munching sounds and he gave the lion more fry bits.

The train arrived and Viktor grabbed the duffle bag while Yuuri held little Yuri’s hand. “Hold my hand. Ah… Don't...” He struggled to find the right words.

“Don’t let go of papa’s hand okay?” Viktor chimed. Yuri nodded, inching closer to Yuuri’s leg. Yuuri felt his cheeks grow red. Viktor had thrown the word papa around a lot ever since they agreed to adopt. It had only gotten worse the closer this day came. But now having Yuri there with them and responding to it in such a positive way… The word suddenly took on new meaning.

* * *

 Viktor had his hand on the doorknob to the apartment, grinning wildly. “You ready to meet your brother?” Yuri cocked his head to the side, hugging his lion closer as if this new ‘brother’ was going to take it from him. Which he might. Viktor opened the door. Makkachin sat inside, letting out a low bark as he saw his masters return home.

Yuri took a step back, almost falling into Yuuri’s legs. Yuuri managed to grab his shoulders. “It’s okay,” Yuuri assured him. “Makkachin is nice.”

As if on cue the poodle walked forward, tongue hanging from his mouth. Looking up at his papa for support, Yuri reached his hand out. Makkachin promptly licked it and Yuri pulled his hand back in response. He started to shake his hand. “Wet!” he announced.

“Come inside,” Viktor urged caring the duffle bag in. The two Yuris followed, Makkachin at their heels. The apartment hadn’t changed much with the arrival of either Yuri. Yuuri’s decorum back home in his room were posters of Viktor, which didn’t seem like a good idea to bring. Everything he brought to Russia with him was a gift from his parents. Some traditional Japanese scrolls and masks from the hot spring to liven the place up, and a rice cooker (that Viktor did not understand and really wasn’t allowed to touch). It didn't help the place look any less like a bachelor pad.The living room still had wall to wall books and a somewhat drab color scheme for the walls and furniture. The red and white oni masks at least helped that. The arrival of Little Yuri came with a lot of childproofing and changing the guest room into his bedroom. Yuuri knew he wouldn't let the whole apartment become a playpen, but having toys around should make the place feel more homely. A place for the three of them and not just Viktor. 

Viktor continued on through the apartment to Yuri’s room. “Here you go. We hope you like it.” Viktor stood in the doorway waiting for Yuri to step in. He tip-towed in, looking up and down the walls before looking at his bed or window. Then he saw the toy hammock filled with stuffed animals. “Wah!” he ran over, staring at the animals as if they were behind glass. Yuuri and Viktor stepped into the room, Viktor wrapping an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder. Little Yuri turned back to Viktor and Yuuri. “Mine?” he asked softly. The pair nodded.

Yuri jumped into the hammock. “Yuri!” Yuuri darted forward, grabbing him out of the pile of stuffed animals like a claw machine. “That’s for stuffed animals, not people!”

“Come on, it’s cute,” Viktor laughed.

Yuuri set the boy back down on the floor. “It can’t support his weight, Viktor.”

Yuri started to pull all the toys out of the hammock in armfuls, dropping them on the floor. Once the hammock was empty he sat on the floor and examined each stuffed animal. Yuuri sat down beside him, watching him pet the toys and gave them each a big hug. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuri saw Viktor pull his phone out of his pocket and take a picture. “Don’t post that on Instagram just yet,” he reminded Viktor.

“No, no, it’s just going to Phitchit and Yuuko.”

“Well make sure he doesn’t post it. Or the triplets.”

As much as they wanted to show everyone their son, show their love for him, the pair knew that came with a whole other set of challenges. Fawning easily turned into gawking, and they knew Yuri would get enough of that just being seen walking with them. It was inevitable, but just for now they wanted these moments for themselves.

Viktor joined the two Yuris on the floor. “Do you have a favorite, moë?”

Yuri grabbed the lion he received at the orphanage. “This one!” He placed it on top of his head like a crown. “And this one…” he grabbed for a tiger only to have his lion friend topple to the floor. Yuri looked at his fallen friend. “He’s dead.”

Viktor and Yuri couldn’t keep themselves from laughing.

* * *

 “You think you can slack off just because the last two Prix winners have retired?” Yavok yelled across the ice as his students. “There are plenty of skaters just waiting to hear my voice, so you all better appreciate my yelling before it’s gone!”

Everything he said was undermined by Yuri’s arrival. “Ah!” Mila exclaimed trotting across the rink to greet them. “Is this him? Little Yuri?” She leaned down, resting her hands on her knees. Half of Yuri’s face was covered by a scarf with tiger stripe print, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing his cheeks. “He still has such a baby face!”

Squirming, Yuri managed to pull away from Mila. “Get away, hag!”

“Yuri,” his papa scolded. “We don’t call people that.”

Yuri looked up at Viktor. “Batya,” he whined.

“Papa is right we don’t call people hag. Especially, friends like Mila.” Yuri huffed, moving away from Mila to hug Viktor’s leg.

“So this is the little one,” Yakov said making his way over. He didn’t lean over to greet the boy, just studying him from above. Yakov snapped his head up back to Viktor. "Why isn't he in school?"

"We're waiting till next year. Besides, he's only five. Preschool isn't that important."

Yuuri stepped in. "I've been teaching him some things at home. Just the basics." Yuuri didn't want to admit the lessons were for him too. The more letters Yuri better Yuuri was at reading the signs around town. Not that he was proud to be learning his alphabet from worksheets with cartoon animals and size fourteen font. Buti it worked for him. "He's good with his numbers."

“Does he behave?”

“As well as most kids is age, Yakov. We’re very lucky.”

“And so are you!” Viktor announced. He placed his hands on Yuri’s shoulders and escorted him forward. “Could you watch him while Yuri and I practice? We have that event in Japan in a month.”

“Oh, I see! Didn’t come here so we could meet your boy, just needed Yakov to do something for Viktor Nikiforov, just like always.”

Viktor didn’t even blink, turning to Yuri and asking. “Do you want to skate?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Do you want coach Yakov to show you how to skate?”

“Yes,” Yuri repeated.

Yakov’s mouth fell open, finally speechless for once. He turned to Yuuri. “Did Viktor train him to do this?”

“Yakov, if you could just watch him for today." Before Yakov could ask the question again Yuuri continued. "Yuri does want to try skating. And we _did_ want you to meet him.”

Yakov looked between Little Yuri and Viktor, though he already had an answer for them. “Alright. But today only—I have other students you know.”

“Yay!” Viktor sang pulling a pair of child’s skates from his bag.

Yuri repeated, “Yay!”

* * *

 Mila skated beside Yuri as they went around the rink. He had refused to hold anyone’s hand or use a skating aid. His little feet shuffled across the ice, mostly propelling himself forward but sometimes ended up sliding backward. Mila would grab his shoulders and carefully push him in the right direction. He was a natural, but Yakov had seen plenty of those. Still, Yakov didn’t yell. He knew Yuri was distracted with his parents just a couple feet away practicing their routines.  

Viktor hadn’t been lying when he said he had a billion routines already planned and they were, of course, all spectacular. For himself, Viktor had chosen Tchaikovsky’s Pesn Tskganki, with an opening step sequence and his signature quad flip planned in. Yuuri was skating an alternate version of On Love, this time an Agape version. Fitting—seeing as he was now married with a child. It was cardinal Viktor piece but Yuuri would find a way to make it his own. The pair discussed the routine's lack of step sequences Yuuri was known for. Not that it mattered much. Tokyo would be happy with Yuuri either way. Besides it was the last piece that was clearly meant to be the crowd pleaser.

Even Yakov was entranced by the exhibition, featuring lifts and a sort of chase sequence with beautiful turns. It was set to I Dreamed a Dream, a song Yakov got sick of hearing in the 90s when the show was at its peak and every fresh-faced skater was dancing to it. But Viktor and Yuuri had the element few skaters, new or old, had. Clear emotion. Their faces, Viktor’s delicate wilting motions, and Yuuri's strong stance but soft touch when he carried Viktor. It felt like a companion to the Stay Close to Me pair skate. The crowd would love it.

“What do you think of your dads, Yuri?” Mila asked, she too entranced by their performance. Half the rink watched on as Yuuri lifted Viktor into the air by his hips, Viktor seeming to fall into his husband's touch. Even with his height disadvantage, Yuuri carried Viktor like he was made of air.

“I wanna try,” Yuri announced skating across the rink away from the barrier.

Lowering Viktor to the ice Yuuri caught the sight of tiger print out of the corner of his eye. He sped up the drop, turning on a dime to look at Yuri. Viktor hadn’t quite caught on.

“Batya!” Yuri called as Mila skated over to grab him.

Viktor looked over his shoulder, gasping as he caught a glimpse of his son. “Yuri! You’re doing so well.”

“Careful!” Yuuri yelled knowing how quickly things could turn sour the ice.

Viktor held his hands out. “Come on, come to batya!”

Smiling Yuri moved his legs faster but instead of fluid movements, he tried to run on the ice. He got a couple steps in before his leg slid behind him, and he fell on his face. Yuuri shrieked. Viktor skated his way over, plopping down on the ice to pick up Yuri. “Oh, Yuri. You had your first fall.” Lifting him off the ice Viktor ignored the tears forming in Yuri’s eyes, patting his head instead. “That’s great Yuri! Your first fall is important.”

Yuri sniffled. “You made me fall!”

“I did not.”

“Yes, you did!”

Viktor sighed, placing Yuri back on his feet before standing up. Yuuri and Mila joined them. “Is he okay?” Yuri asked doing a poor job of hiding his worry.

“He’s fine, aren’t you Yuri?”

Yuri huffed, trying to skate away but not getting very far with his hand wrapped up in Viktor’s. The pair skated off the ice and made their way to the benches. Viktor sat Yuri down and began to untie his skates. Still focused on the laces Viktor could feel Yuri’s eyes on him. Finally slipping the skates off he sat up and kissed Yuri on the forehead. Yuri stuck out his tongue and gagged, resulting in another kiss from Viktor—this time on the cheek. The more of a fuss Yuri made the more kissed Viktor gave him. Yuuri his watched from the railing, chuckling to himself each time Viktor laid another kiss on Yuri’s face.  

* * *

 “How many of those lions does he have?” Phichit asked sitting on the living room couch.

Yuuri shrugged. “We might have gone a bit overboard with the stuffed animals,” he admitted.

Phichit had threatened that the second Yuuri and Viktor adopted little Yuri he’d be halfway to Russia. Neither of them took it all that seriously till they saw him post a picture of his plane ticket to St. Petersburg to Instagram. He was also attending an event in Helsinki in a couple days but as he explained, “that was just so Ciao-Ciao wouldn’t get on my case.”

Either way, they were happy to have him visit and as he promised there were plenty of cute pictures to be had. In just the couple hours he’d been there, he’d gotten some nice shots of Yuri playing with his toys, playing with Yuuri’s hair, and one of him resting on Viktor’s lap. There were also a couple blurry shots of him trying to play with Viktor’s hair, which was off limits. “Betya is scared of balding,” Yuuri explained much to Viktor’s horror.

“I can’t believe I’m being attacked by my own family. Phichit, are you seeing this?”

Phichit just laughed. “You should see my family. My sisters can get so catty. Though they're not as bad as my brothers when they’re together, let me tell you.”

Things had calmed down and Yuri sat on the floor with his stuffed animals watching old Pooh Bear cartoons. They were extremely adorable and always seemed to be on. Yuuri had even learned Pooh’s song he sang when he went to get honey. He and little Yuri would sing it together sometimes.

“What do you call him so you won’t get confused. I mean it’s cute but two Yuris…”

“Viktor calls him moë cause of his hair. I just call him Yuri.”

Viktor walked into the living room with a tray of tea. “What would you call him Phichit?”

“Um, a bunch of things. We’re really into nicknames in Thailand. Old tradition. Mom and dad called me _som_ ,” he took a cup of tea off the tray. “But my sisters called me _aud_ cause apparently I ate a lot as a baby.” He looked back at the scattered stuffed animals. “ _Seua_ is a good one. It means tiger.”

“Seua…” Yuuri repeated as Viktor sat beside him on the couch.

“Or _meow_.” Viktor and Yuuri stared at their friend. “What? That was my cousin’s nickname. She lived with a lot of cats.”

“I think we’ll stick to tiger.”

Phichit slipped off the couch to sit next to Yuri. “Ey, Yuri. _Seua_!” Little Yuri looked at him with a blank face. Yuuri had explained that Phichit was papa’s friend but he didn’t really see why that mattered. “Um…” Phichirt curled his fingers into claws. “Rawr!” Yuri blinked before picking up a stuffed tiger and throwing it at Phichit. The animal fell into his lap. “Ah, thanks?”

“Yuri.” The little boy looked back at his papa. “Say thank you. The way I taught you.”

Yuri and Phichit looked at each other for a moment. “Arigaato.” His pronunciation was off but Phichit looked back at Viktor and Yuuri with shock.

“You’re teaching him Japanese?”

“Just a little for our trip to Hasetsu,” Yuuri explained. He had read that it was easier for children to pick up new languages, and Yuri was a shining example of that. So much so Viktor and Yuuri had to be careful what English they spoke around him. He understood some of it but mostly he just repeated words like a parakeet. Japanese was a bit different, he understood the words better than English but his pronunciation was off. Though that just made everything much cuter.

“We figured he should know a little before meeting Yuuri’s family. Especially if we want to get some alone time.” Viktor gave Yuuri a knowing look before turning his attention back to his son. “Yuri, who is Mari?”

“Um…” He started before responding, “oba.”

Phichit chuckled, “that is pretty cute. And speaking of cute…” He got up and grabbed his bag from behind the couch, pulling out his bronze medal from the Grand Prix. “I want to take a picture of him holding it!” He explained.

Viktor hummed. “Not sure he’s used to holding bronze, Phichit.”

Yuuri elbowed his husband in the rib. “Ignore him. Mr. five-time-champion.”

“Alas,” Viktor pressed his hand against his forehead dramatically. “It’s true!”

“ _Seua_!” Phichit handed Yuri the metal. He held onto the ribbon while the bronze hung in his lap. Phichit sat there with his phone at the ready, taking about a million pictures. Yuri picked up the bronze medal, admiring himself in its reflection. He seemed to take notice of Phichit’s camera for the first time. Looking directly at Phichit he bit down on the medal.

Phichit took a couple photos before putting his phone down. “Wow, he really is Viktor Nikiforov’s son.”

* * *

 “You want to go see batya at the rink?” Yuri nodded as he finishing up his lunch. Viktor would be close to done with his students by the time they got there, and Yuuri wanted to practice his jumps. In about a week’s time, they’d been in Tokyo for two days, then go down to Hasetsu to stay with his family. It was the main reason they chose to go to a Japanese event as opposed to a European event. Yuuri teased it was time his son got to see his Japanese roots.

Yuuri put the dishes in the sink before wrapping Yuri up in his scarf and jacket. “I just have to use the bathroom and then we’ll go, okay?” Yuri just nodded, taking a seat on the couch. Yuuri left the room, feeling a bit odd.

There weren’t many occasions Yuri wasn’t being watched by him or Viktor. Even when the pair would go practice Yuri often came along with the babysitter they had hired or just watched from the sides with the other skaters. Yakov said they were being too protective but that didn’t seem right. The worst things Yuri could do were to himself. Every trip gave Yuuri a mini-heart attack, but Viktor took them all in stride telling Yuri he’d skate better knowing how to fall and how it made him strong. Yuri liked that idea, showing off his big toothy smile that reminded Yuuri of the lions he so deeply loved. It also reminded him that soon he would be losing his baby teeth. Talk about giving him a heart attack. But he also looked forward to it, excited to see Yuri grow each and every day. Viktor kept teasing that someday his little boy would be taller than Yuuri. He didn’t doubt that for a second.

Finishing up in the bathroom Yuuri shook his hands out in the sink calling out, “almost done Yuri!” He waited for a response. Yuri always wanted to grab something to eat before or after they went skating. Viktor said it was good for a growing boy but Yuuri worried about his weight. He was ready to tell Yuri he could wait to eat pirozhkis but all he got was silence.

“Yuri?” Yuuri entered the living room and found no Yuri. “Yuri?” He called again this time running to his room. Maybe he wanted to bring a stuffed animal with him? There was no sign of him in his room either and none of his toys had moved. Yuuri felt a tightness in his chest. He quickly checked the other rooms. Nothing. He grabbed his coat, running past Makkachin. He whistled for the dog to follow, as silly as it was. Yuuri started down the complex stairs’, calling Yuri’s name as he went.  Makkachin ran past him like he knew what Yuuri was looking for.

The apartment lobby was also empty. Yuuri ran out the front door, shouting into the street. “Yuri!” He looked around. The streets weren’t extremely busy, but that meant little when his son was missing. He started down the road they walked to get to the ice rink, thinking maybe Yuri had decided to walk on his own. Yuuri bumped into a passer-by but didn’t stop running. The fears he had the months leading up the adoption flooded back to him. What if someone took him? What if ran into the street and got hurt? What if he was lost somewhere crying alone? They were now all too possible.

Turning a corner Makkachin started barking wildly and Yuuri spotted a tiger stripped scarf. He ran forward, grabbing Yuri and lifting him into his arms.

Yuri seemed and started kicking his legs, but stopped when he realized who it was. “What are you doing?!”

Yuri tilted his head back. “Papa?” He seemed oblivious to what he had just done.

Yuuri set him back down on the ground, placing his hands on the boy’s shoulders “Don’t run away like that!”

“I didn’t,” he insisted.

“You can’t walk to the rink by yourself, okay?”

“I wasn’t going to the rink!”

Yuuri furrowed his brows. “Papa was scared. You don’t leave the house without papa. You understand?”

Yuri frowned, his face matching Yuuri’s. “I want to see grandpa!”

“You’re going to meet grandpa next week.” Yuuri’s face softened, confused now. “You can’t walk to grandpa.”

Yuri slapped his hands against Yuuri’s arm. “I want my grandpa!” Yuuri opened his mouth to speak but Yuri kept yelling. “I want grandpa! I want grandpa!” His face grew red as he started to cry.

Yuuri just sat there, not sure what to do. “Let’s go home, okay?”

Yuri started to cry more, yelling something but his words were garbled by his tears. Yuuri picked him up and carried him back to the apartment, Makkachin following. It was a short walk. Yuri hadn’t gotten very far at all before he was found. Thank God.

In the elevator, Makkachin licked Yuri’s hand. Yuuri heard him mutter, “Stupid.” But he didn’t try to pull his hand away and even started to calm down. Back in the apartment, Yuuri laid him down in his bed. He wished he could take a nap with him. He pushed back Yuri’s hair. The boy huffed and turned his back to him. Yuuri sat on the floor, his elbow resting on the edge of the bed. He softly sang Winnie the Pooh’s song. “Tram-param-param, param-pam-pa… Poom-poorom-pooroom…” He ran his fingers through Yuri’s pale hair, just happy to be able to touch and see him safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian Winnie the Pooh might be my favorite thing I've discovered while researching for this fic.  
> 


	5. An Event

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic has 50 bookmarks now which is a lot more than any of my other works and I'm just (ఠ్ఠ ˓̭ ఠ్ఠ)  
> Thank ya'll for the support I hope I can keep it up! “φʕ•ᴥ•oʔ

“I don’t know what happened…” Yuuri’s head rested on Viktor’s chest as they lay in bed together. “He’s never done that,” he said knowing full well that Yuri had only been living with them for a month. Yuri had calmed down since running off earlier that day. He took a nap, ate dinner, took a bath, begged to watch more cartoons before bed time. Yuuri was too tired to argue and let him watch another re-run of Miś Uszatek. Viktor knew something was wrong before that, but something about it irked him the most. Yuuri was the stern one (thank God) and so far had been hard to persuade. Even Yuri’s cutest face and whines that turned Viktor into a puddle didn’t shake his husband. Now, sitting on the couch watching another adventure of Miś Uszatek, Yuuri looked exhausted.

Viktor put little Yuri to bed before confronting his husband in their own bedroom. “Yuuri,” he started. It was the same tone he used when coaching. “What happened today? You didn’t come to the rink.” He didn’t have to push any farther. Yuuri’s eyes were already filling with tears, his lips quivering as he tried to hold back a whimper.

The first tear dropped, falling on his glasses. “Damn it…” Yuuri muttered, pulling his glasses off and whipping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Yuuri…” Viktor said again. He wrapped his arms around him, pulling him down to the bed. Yuuri practically sat in Viktor’s lap as he tearfully explained everything. The event itself was a short story: Yuri ran away and cried about his grandfather. But Yuuri didn’t leave his aching chest or little Yuri’s tears to the imagination.

“I thought the worst… the worst of the worst happening to him all cause I took my eyes off him—“ Viktor stopped Yuuri’s rambling, reaching up to wipe away his tears. Yuuri was an ugly crier, but not the sense that his nose dripped with snot or his face grew extremely red. He wasn’t a mess of fluids or screaming like a newborn. Viktor found it ugly because he hated seeing it. Even since he broke his heart at the Cup of China Viktor wanted nothing to do with Yuuri’s tears.

Viktor fell to the bed and took Yuuri with him, cradling his head. His tears stained Viktor’s shirt. “You did nothing wrong…” Viktor assured him as he ran his fingers though Yuuri’s silky hair. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“Don’t you start,” Yuuri huffed. “So what? You weren’t there. It would have still been terrible even if you were.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Yuuri sighed, burning his face in Viktor’s neck. They lay there like that for ages till Viktor felt Yuuri's slow breath against his neck. He rolled over, seeing Yuuri had fallen asleep. Viktor didn’t try to wake him, feeling he deserved a rest. He fell asleep beside him, knowing tomorrow would be better. For his Yuris, he refused anything less.

* * *

Viktor had just fallen asleep when he heard a scream. His eyes shot open to find Yuuri still asleep on his chest. He looked over his shoulder to the floor beside his bed. Makkachin wasn’t in his usual spot. He slipped his body out from under Yuuri, careful not to wake him. Viktor tip-toed out of the room. Makkachin was in the hallway, standing obediently outside Yuri’s door. Viktor pushed his bangs back, chastising himself for not realizing it sooner.

Viktor opened the door slowly. “Yuri?” he whispered as Makkachin pushed his way into the room. The room was dark. They had bought Yuri a night light just in case he needed it but the boy refused to use it. Viktor thought about putting the light on when without telling him, just in case. But Yuri seemed to burn all his energy during the day and fell asleep with no trouble once his head hit the pillow. He didn’t even ask for a second bedtime story, falling asleep halfway through the first one. Maybe they were lucky, but it just made Viktor worry if the art prints and stuffed animals were enough to shake off his tiny bed and the white walls of the orphanage.

The window let in some white moonlight and yellow from the street lamps bellow. The light shone against Yuri’s hair, hanging in his eyes as he sat upright in his bed. Makkachin put his head on the edge of the mattress, wining. “Yuri?” Viktor started again.

Yuri whipped his eyes with the back of his sleeve as Viktor sat on the bottom of the bed. “Bad dream…” He sniffled. “I’m sorry…”

Viktor felt a jolt run down his spine. He wanted to jump forward and pull Yuri into a hug. Instead, he just reached forward and pushed the hair out of his eyes. “Don’t be sorry moë. It’s okay.”

“No!” His palms covered his eyes. “I shouldn’t be scared. It’s stupid!”

“Yuri no…” Viktor pulled his son’s hands away from his eyes. “It’s okay to be scared.” He pulled Yuri into his lap, petting his hair. Sitting there Viktor remembered the first time he saw Yuri get upset. It seemed like ages ago, back when they still had paperwork and not a single toy in the apartment. It was before Yuuri had asked Viktor—almost pleaded with him, to be scared. To be willing to hold on to each other through this and dive into the dark pool that was their future with Yuri. Their first month together was almost over; looking back it seemed foolish to have been so skittish. But Viktor knew that month didn’t end the way a season ended. After this month came the next, and then the first year. On and on, with Yuri there. If he was willing to stay with them all those years.

Viktor pulled Yuri’s head closer to his chest. “Batya gets scared. Papa too.”

“Does papa hate me?”

Viktor felt another jolt, this time pulling away so he could look at Yuri’s face. His cheeks and nose glistened, wet with tears and snot. “No!” Viktor assured him while whipping his face with his shirt. “What makes you think that?”

Looking down Yuri sniffled. “I did a bad thing.”

“I know.”

“I yelled at Makka… and at papa.” Moonlight shone in Yuri’s eyes, illuminating his forming tears.

“Did you apologize?” Yuri shook his head. “Papa will always love you, Yuri. Just like I will. Just like how we’ll both love each other. But when you do something bad, you have to apologize. Do you know why?”

Yuri balled the bottom of his night shirt up in his fists. “So they know you love them?”

Viktor blinked, not expecting Yuri to answer—let alone give such a good answer. His pride bubbled up into a laugh. “Yes. That’s exactly right.”

Yuri turned to Makkachin, still resting on the edge of the bed. Yuri reached out to pat the poodle’s head. “I’m sorry Makka…” The dog licked his hand in response.  

“Why don’t you sleep in batya’s room tonight?” He carried Yuri back to his room, surprised to find Yuuri sitting in bed and rubbing his eyes.

“Viktor?” He mumbled. “What’s going on?”

“Someone had a bad dream.” He placed Yuri in the center of the bed.

“What?” He blinked rapidly before reaching to touch Yuri’s head. “Yuri, are you okay? You know the monsters won’t get you right?” Viktor smiled, watching his husband fall into his fatherly role with ease.

Yuri nodded his head before crawling to get closer to Yuuri. He wrapped his arms around his papa’s neck. “I’m sorry. I didn’t wanna scare you.”

Yuuri didn’t hesitate to reciprocate the hug. “It’s okay, Yuri.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “don’t ever leave me like that, okay?”

Yuri nodded.

The three lay next to one another, Viktor’s arm resting above the two Yuris heads. Makkachin jumped on the bed resting on the very end like a throw blanket. Outside snowflakes began to fall. A perfect Russian winter for a less-than-perfect family, but both equally beautiful.

* * *

 Yuri wanted to bring every single stuffed animal to Tokyo. “Two,” Yuuri told him. “And maybe we can stop by some of the toy stores in Tokyo if you’re good.” Viktor smiled as he watched the exchange from the door. A stern Yuuri meant a happy Yuuri.

Little Yuri chose his favorite lion (the one Viktor and Yuuri had given him when they picked him up at the orphanage) and a stiff realistic looking tiger. Yuuri silently lamented that his son hadn’t chosen a smaller toy but they had a twelve-hour flight ahead of them. And Yuri had never been on a plane before.

Even before they boarded the plane the trip was a struggle. Yuri wanted to see everything, to stare at every plane he saw and ride every escalator. Viktor and Yuuri switched off between holding their son’s hand and caring the only carry on bag they bothered to bring. It had Yuri’s favorite stuffed animal, coloring and story books, and snacks. They had taken to calling it the bag-o-fun, hoping it would be enough to entertain Yuri on the flight. The bag-o-fun was the easy job. Once Yuri saw something he liked he ran to it, pulling on his parent’s limbs like some medieval torture. Viktor almost fell to the ground when Yuri spotted a tiger neck pillow in one of the shops. “When did he get so strong?”

They did buy the neck pillow. Hoping maybe Yuri would then sleep on the flight.

Things calmed down at the gate. They had time for Yuri to stare at the window and run up and down the automatic walkway. He insisted on racing—with him on the walkway and Yuuri or Viktor running beside it. He always won but his parents were never far behind to scoop him up before he spotted something else he wanted to look at.

Viktor put himself on moë duty bringing him to the bathroom and buying him a smoothie before the flight. He thought it was a good idea but when they got back to the gate Yuuri looked at him with big eyes and asks, “how much sugar does that have?” A sugar high toddler in a flying tin can was far from ideal. 

“Maybe he’ll crash during the flight?” Viktor offered. He would deal with it. In part because it was his fault he hadn't made sure he wasn't feeding his son the fruit equivalent of a candy bar, but also because of Yuri's little runaway. Viktor still wished he could have been there. He wasn't sure if he wanted to stop it just be there for his Yuris but the event left a feeling of helplessness in his stomach. St. Petersburg wasn't the most dangerous city sure, and Yuri wouldn't just let some stranger take him without a fight or at the very least a loud scream. Then there were the busy streets-- which Viktor knew from driving around himself were less than friendly. Or he could have just fallen and hurt himself. Anything was possible from a scrape to a broken arm.

But he didn't want to think about that at all.

While they stood in line to board Yuri bounced on his toes. Yuuri had exchanged his smoothie for the stuffed lion and stole sips from it when Yuri wasn’t looking. Viktor held moë’s hand and quizzed him. “So grandpa is?”

“Jiichan.”

“Good! And grandma?”

“Baachan.”

Viktor beamed. “Our son is a genius.”

On the plane, Yuri wasn’t a big fan of the seatbelts. They avoided snapping him in till the last second but once the plane started moving towards the runway Viktor quickly snapped the two pieces together. Yuri looked up from his coloring book. He started tugging at the straps. “It’s just like a car Yuri. It’s there to keep you safe.” There was little sense to explaining it to him, especially once the plane started to take off. He practically climbed out of his seat to look out the window. Yuuri held onto his shoulders as his son craned his neck to watch the ground move farther and farther away. Yuri stared in awe as all of St. Petersburg was laid out in front of him like a toy set.

Yuuri took his first deep breath of the day. Twelve hours of this he could handle. But that was wishful thinking.

Once they were in the air Yuri wanted to run up and down the aisle. Viktor told him no and he pouted. Yuuri got him apple juice from the drink cart which he promptly spilled on the floor. Yuuri apologized profusely as the fight attended handed him napkins. Yuri was about half way through an in-flight cartoon when he announced he needed to pee. Viktor turned to Yuuri for a second before remembering he had the aisle seat and so that duty fell to him. He always hated how cramped plane bathrooms were, and it was only worse with a three-year-old who kept asking where the water in the toilet went. Thankfully they got back to their seats before Yuri could ask for the fifth time.

Once Yuri had his headphones back on Viktor asked Yuuri how long they’d been in the air. “About an hour,” he responded.

Viktor hung his head in his hands. Even across the seats, Yuuri could hear him mutter, “I love my son.”

“Yes you do,” he reminded Viktor.

“And I love my husband.”

“I hope you do.”

“And we’re going to have a fun time at Yu-Topia.”

Yuuri chuckled reaching across the seat to pat his husband’s head. “After this, you can rest up in the hot spring. We’ll let Yuri get to know his grandparents.”

Viktor pulled his hands away. He reached up and grabbed Yuuri’s wrist, bringing his husband’s palm to his lips. “Well, the next eleven hours should be better now that I have something to look forward too.” He gave Yuuri another kiss, this time touching his ring.

“Please don’t remind me we have eleven more hours of this.”

* * *

 Yuri spent eight hours of the flight jumping back and forth between coloring books, in-flight entertainment and asking his parents questions. Yuuri didn’t mind it as much as he feared he would. The million chimes of “why” were worth it to see Yuri’s smiling face when he understood something. And unlike his questions to Viktor about the plane, Yuuri could actually answer most of them. “What do they eat in Japan?”

“A lot of the same stuff you eat. Rice. Pork. Fish. You’ll get to have grandma’s famous pork cutlet bowl.”

“What’s that?”

“Rice, pork, and eggs.”

“Are eggs yummy?”

“Um…” Yuuri tried to recall if there was any food Yuuri didn’t like. He ate everything put in front of him. He didn’t seem to even mind vegetables that much. Though they were seasoned and usually cooked in the same pot as their meat for dinner. They probably prepared vegetables differently at the orphanage.  “Yes, eggs are yummy. You like eggs.”

Yuuri grinned, “I wanna eat a pork bowl!”

“Inside voice,” he hushed.  

About nine hours into the flight Yuri started to get sleepy. It was only seven o’clock back at home, but the plane was warm and Viktor and Yuuri had been urging him to sleep for a while. Viktor wrapped a blanket around him and he was out. Thank God. Viktor and Yuuri didn’t have much time to celebrate, taking the chance to close their eyes for themselves. It was six in the morning when they touched down in Tokyo. Which meant it was midnight back in St. Petersburg. Viktor and Yuuri would survive but Yuuri was clearly miffed after being woken up. As they walked off the plane he rubbed his eyes with tiny fists and struggled to pick his feet up off the ground. Viktor ended up carrying him leaving Yuuri to hold the bag-o-fun and grab the luggage.

Pulling two rolling bags behind him Yuuri walked up too little Yuri asleep in Viktor’s arms. For a moment he forgot about the eight hours of questions and spills and shouting. Viktor was so focused on his son he didn’t even notice Yuuri had returned till his husband remarked, “he must be exhausted.”

Viktor only nodded before kissing the crown of Yuri’s head. “I don’t want him to wake up…” he whispered.

“Neither do I. He’s going to hate the time difference.”

“Yuuri!” A familiar voice sang. Yuuri turned to see Minako. “Welcome home!” She spun a perfect pirouette before unfolding a banner. The banner said “welcome Katsuki-Nikiforov family” with a gold medal on each end. It had been eight months since he last saw her at his wedding. There were plenty of picture of her smiling at the beginning of the ceremony and crying after she had about half a bottle of wine. Yuuri didn’t even bother to ask her how she knew to meet them here.

“Hi, Minako,” Yuuri waved as he and Viktor met her by the door.

She gasped, pulling the banner over her mouth. “Is that him?” She tip-toed over to Viktor, examining the little bundle of Yuri resting on his father’s shoulder. “He’s so cute!” She squealed. Yuri nuzzled Viktor’s shoulder and groaned.

Yuuri slapped a hand over Minako’s mouth. “Please. Please don’t wake him up.” Minako words were muffled by Yuuri’s hand, but she assumed she understood and pulled his hand away. They grabbed a taxi and made their way to the hotel. Yuuri and Minako caught up, speaking in hushed whispers. Any time Yuri stirred they would stop mid-conversation and watch him; silently praying he'd stay asleep. Viktor was a statue the whole ride, barely even breathing. 

The front desk was quick to give them their key and take the bags up. Inside the room, Viktor placed Yuri down on the bed before flopping down in a chair in the corner. He let his arms rest for the first time since they landed in Japan. “He really is adorable,” Minako cooed. 

“You didn’t have to watch him on the plane.”

Yuuri tucked his son in, placing his stuffed lion next to him. “Ignore him. Yuri behaved well. And he is adorable.”

“I never said he wasn’t,” Viktor argued. “Moë might just be the most adorable person in all of St. Petersburg. Right up there with my _other_ Yuuri.”

“Well, I’m glad to see having a child hasn’t taken the spark out of your relationship.” She sat on the bed across from Yuri’s. “When he wakes us you two should walk him past the event center. They’ve got posters of you two plastered everywhere.”

“Really?” Viktor asked with a smile.

Yuuri’s face went pale. “Tell me, is it as bad as when I came back to Hasetsu?”

Minako gave Yuuri a devious grin. “ _Much_ worse.”

“I think I’ll just sleep…” he flopped onto the bed next to Minako.

“Yuuri,” Viktor scolded. “We have an event in two days.” He got up and rubbed his husband’s back. “And here I thought it would be our little Yuri I had to worry about passing out. You really are a sleeping beauty, dorogoy.”

* * *

Viktor tightened the cloth belt of his kosovorotka before stretching, making sure nothing was too tight. “Why are you wearing that?” Yuri asked. He had a storybook in his lap as he sat on the couch in Viktor’s dressing room. Yuuri sat beside him, admiring how the dark blue fabric made Viktor’s light eyes pop.

“You don’t think I look good moë?”

Yuri didn’t answer, turning to his papa. “Why is batya dressed like that?”

“It’s his outfit for the skate today. Papa has one too, see.” Yuuri gestured to his loose white shirt and black pants. He had gone the simple route. He didn’t even put gel in his hair, opting for the free flowing hair he sported in his earlier routines.

Viktor thought it made him look more innocent, more agape. “No one will believe you were the one who performed eros all those months ago.” Yuuri thought that was a good thing. He wasn’t ashamed of his eros, but being deemed a sex god because of it was a bit much.

There was a knock at the door. “Mr. Nikiforov?” A man with a headset poked his head in. “You’re on in ten.”

“Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov,” he corrected before winking at Yuuri. It was no secret he loved correcting people on that. He practically sang the name, even now. Viktor took Yuri’s hand, leading him out into the hallway. “You’ll watch me skate won’t you Yuri?”

“I wanna skate.”

Viktor laughed, ruffling Yuri’s light hair. “That’s my boy, ready to show off to the world!”

He huffed, “I wanna skate!”

Sneaking up behind him, Yuuri picked his son up by the waist, caring him in his arms. “Yuri, batya needs you to cheer for him. You’ll do that right?”

Yuri touched his lips, thinking. “Okay…” he agreed.

“Well, with you cheering me on…” He kissed Yuri’s forehead. “And my good luck charm…” He touched Yuuri’s cheek before kissing him on the lips. The pair could hear Yuri’s sounds of disgust. They both chuckled as they broke away from the kiss. “I think I’ll have the best performance of my life today.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can tell by this chapter that I've done a fair amount of traveling and seen many, **many** children on planes.  
>  Though the last time I sat next to a kid he was pretty cute and his mom gave me fruit snacks so I guess it's not all bad.  
> I was having trouble with this chapter. After my first draft, I realized I didn't have any resolution to the emotional conflict. It felt weird to write about the three going to Japan for happy-fun-times with that looming over everything so I added Yuri's nightmare in. Hope you enjoy the longer chapter!


	6. Kazoku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuri speaks phonetic Japanese in this chapter but it is intentionally written out incorrectly since most five-year-olds mispronounce their own language let alone a foreign one.  
> Everything else is just me being a dolt (｀･へ･´)

Yuri’s nose and hands were pressed against the train car window. “Wow…” he gasped his breath fogging up his view. He turned to look back at his parents and Minako “We’re going fastest!” The bullet train would be in Hatsetsu in about four hours, a much less daunting affair than the plane ride. Especially if Yuri could entertain himself with the sights.

Minako scrolled through her feed on her phone. “Looks like your routines were popular.”

“Oh?” Viktor leaned across his seat. “Which one?” as if he hadn’t choreographed all of them.

“All of them—but the pair skate especially.” Yuuri looked over Minako’s shoulder and was flooded with images of him and Viktor together on the ice. Some were clearly professional with good angles and high quality while others were taken on cell phones from the stands.

As Minako continued to scroll he started noticing more cell pictures of Viktor standing in the kiss and cry, holding and kissing Yuri. Most of his face was obscured or too far away to see, but his hair shone in the darkness like he was a child’s night light. It didn’t really matter. The ban on sharing pictures had been lifted a week ago. Phichit’s photos got thousands of likes and comments. Viktor had even posted a picture of the two Yuris watching cartoons together. Still, to have so many people interested in his own son was a bit much.

“Yuri seemed popular as well…” Yuuri deadpanned.

“What do you expect? Most of the world learned about him like what, a week ago?”

Viktor frowned as he got a glimpse of one of the blurry photos. “I still think we should have made him wear a little suit. Think how much cuter than would have been!”

“If you still want to, _you_ can be the one to put it on him and make sure he doesn’t destroy it.”

Minako snorted while Viktor just smiled, falling back into his seat. “You know I love a challenge.”

* * *

 “Are you excited to meet your grandparents Yuri?” Viktor asked as Minako drove them to Yu-topia. He sat in the back with Yuri on his lap, since they had forgotten to bring a car seat. Yuri yawned in response resting his head on Viktor’s chest. Viktor shook him. “We’re almost there Yuri. You can take a nap after you say hello, okay?” Yuri just groaned in response.

At the resort, Minako waved the boys in. “I’ll grab the bags, you two get that kid in there.”

Neither of them argued, wanting the Katsukis to meet their grandson while he was still in a favorable mood. Making their way past the entrance the front door slid open, revealing Mari caring a stack of empty crates. “Hey, Mari” Yuuri called, waving.

“Sister Mari!” Viktor added.

Mari managed to look around the crates. “Well…” She put the crates in the back of the truck before turning her attention to the three of them. “Here I was worried you wouldn’t make it this far. It took you guys what, fifteen hours to get here in total?”

“Seventeen,” Yuuri responded feeling a sudden wave of fatigue.

Mari shook her head as she walked to meet them. “You two are crazy. And with a toddler no less.” She looked down at Yuri, giving him a little smile.

Yuuri spoke to his son in Russian. “Yuri, this is Mari, your aunt.”

“Oba,” Yuri blurted out.

Mari’s smile grew. “Wow!”

Yuri spoke slowly, “Kon-neechiwaa, oba.”

Mari leaned down to ruffle his hair. “He’s good. Does he know any other words?”

“You’ll see,” Yuuri assured her.

They started for the door just as Minako joined them with the bags. “Mom, dad!” Mari called. “They’re here!”

Toshiya slid the window open to his office. “Ha ha! There you two are.”

“Hi, dad!” Viktor sang as he waved.

“Hello, Vicchan.”

Hiroko ran in just as she had when Yuuri came home from Detroit. “Yuuri! Vicchan! Welcome home you two. Oh—“ She leaned down to look at little Yuuri. “And of course our other Yuri as well.”

Yuri pointed to Hiroko “Jiichan!”

Hiroko started to laugh while Yuuri just sighed. “Close enough. It’s good to be home, mom.”

“Come on, come in!” she urged. Everyone made their way to the main dining room. “It feels like I haven’t seen you two in years. But really it’s been… what nine months?”

“Almost ten,” Viktor corrected. “It’ll be our anniversary in no time.” He wrapped an arm around Yuuri’s waist.

“Ain’t that good timing,” Toshiya interjected. “What with you having a kid of your own. All the waiting without the pain!” Little Yuri walked around the room, pointing at the masks and scrolls like the ones in the apartment.

“Oh trust me… there was pain,” Yuuri moaned.

“You had a lot of paperwork to fill out didn’t you?”

“Yeah…” The paperwork was far from the hardest part of the whole adoption. Yuri’s fit the first time the pair met him had never disappeared from Yuuri’s mind. But after he ran off Yuuri found himself thinking about it more and more. Except today. Today, he told himself, he’d focus on the now with his family around him. “But it was all worth it.” Yuri started to crawl under one of the kotatsus. “I like being a dad so far.”

Viktor leaned his head against Yuuri’s. “He’s a good dad too. Everything Yuri knows is thanks to him. Oh, and when they play together it's so cute!”

Yuuri had started to walk away. He lifted the blanket of the kotatsu and looked under it. Yuri had rolled himself into a ball. “What are you doing?” He asked trying not to laugh.

“Mine! Rawr!” Yuri bared his teeth.

“Is this your lion cave?” Yuri just nodded. “Do you want your stuffed lion?”

“Yeah!” Yuri crawled out and ran to the bag-oh-fun from the train. He pulled out his favorite stuffed lion.

“Cute,” Mari chuckled. Yuri hugged the lion to his chest, staring at Mari. She waved her hand to the side, “it’s all yours kid.”

“Yuri,” Viktor sang. “Why don’t you show aunt Mari your toys? Can you share?”

He pouted but sat next to Mari and held the lion out to her. She bopped it on the nose. “Really cute…” Mari looked up at her brother. “What do you call him?”

“Um, his name?”

“What? That’s confusing.”

“It really isn’t.”

“I’m gonna call him Yurio.” She smiled at her new nephew. “Whadda think, Yurio?” Yuri furrowed his brows before pulling the toy back to his chest.

Hiroko started for the kitchen “I bet you three are hungry.”

Even before her mother had reached the kitchen Mari knew what she was grabbing. “Mom, you really think Yurio can eat a pork cutlet bowl by himself?”

“Why not? Yuuri gobbled them up when he was that age!”

“Yeah but Yurio isn’t a fat baby like Yuri was.”

Yuuri felt his cheeks grow hot. It was made only worse by Viktor’s smile. He put his elbow on the table, leaning in. “Yuuri was a chubby kid too, eh?” Yuuri pursed his lips. Viktor so knew the answer to that question. “I bet he had the cutest cheeks.”

“He looked like that tanuki we have out by the hot spring.”

Yuuri rested his chin on the table. “You guys better not be this mean to Yuri when he grows up.” As if on cue Yuri ran over to sit in his papa’s lap. “You ready to try a pork cutlet bowl?”

“What’s that?”

“The pork and rice bowl I told you about. With the egg.”

Hiroko walked in with three bowls on a tray. She set it down on the kotatsu, smiling. “Yuri gets to have the first bowl.” She placed a bowl in front of her grandson before anyone else.

Yuuri opened up a pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of pork. “Careful, it’s hot…”

Yuri ignored him and took a big bite out of the pork strip. He shivered before announcing, “ow!” His mouth was opened as he chewed quickly before swallowing. “More now.”

“What do you say?”

“Please more now.” The Katsuki’s all laughed, knowing what had transpired though everything was spoken in Russian.

Yuuri and Viktor took turns helping Yuri with his food and eating their own. “So how have things been now that you have a kid of your own?” Yuuri’s dad asked.

“Busy, but he’ll be going to preschool soon and then we’ll have more time to ourselves.”

“Not that we really want it,” Viktor chimed. “Being with Yuri is the best part of my day.” With Viktor distracted, Yuri grabbed a handful of rice and egg and shoved it into his mouth.

Yuri sighed. He grabbed a napkin and whipping rice off the corner of Yuri’s lips. “Hopefully then I can focus on skating again. Maybe do some more events.”

“That skate you two did yesterday was wonderful!” Hiroko gushed.

“You saw it?”

“Minako sent us the link to the stream before she left,” Toshiya explained. “I didn’t know you had such upper body strength son. You carried Viktor around like he weighed nothing!”

Viktor’s eyes glossed over into a dreamy gaze, remembering Yuuri’s hands on his waist and the crowd’s applause. Catching Viktor’s expression out of the corner of his eye Yuuri smiled. Minako was right. Having a child didn’t make them anything less than a pair of hopeless romantics. Yuuri leaned over and kissed Viktor on the cheek.

Sitting between them Yuri stuck out his tongue and gagged.

* * *

 The next day Yuri ran around the resort, darting between Mari’s legs and jumping onto Hiroko’s leg. “He has so much energy!” The guests and locals who came by for a drink all laughed. Yuri had on a short yukata that somehow managed to stay on his body despite all his activity. Yuri just liked not having to wear pants. The soft green fabric felt more like a blanket than any of the shirts he had back at home.

Yuuri and Viktor sat in the main dining room when a familiar voice called. “Yuuri!” The pair looked up to see Yuuko and Takashi with the triplets in tow. The pair took a seat beside them, while the triplets went to investigate Yuuri. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Be nice to him—and don’t take a bunch of pictures,” Takashi warned the girls.

“You two look good. Not nearly as tired as I thought you would.”

“Yuri sleeps through the night no problem, and today he’s been too busy exploring to bother us.” As if he heard his name Yuri came running in, caring his stuffed lion on top of his head. The triplets followed, calling after him. Yuri jumped into Viktor’s lap, staring at the girls with a frown.

“Moë don’t frown like that!” Viktor scolded. “These are our friends.”

“He doesn’t speak much Japanese,” Lutz said, the triplets all hanging off of Takashi.

Yuri puffed out his cheeks before exclaiming, “baka!” The triplets started to giggle.

“Wh-where did you learn that?” Yuuri felt a thousand pair of judgmental eyes on him though most of the patrons weren’t paying attention and Yuuko and Takashi didn’t mind. Mari slipped out of the room before her brother could remember Yuri had spent all morning following her around.

Yuri continued to repeat the world like the blond parakeet he was. Yuuri hung his head in his hands while Viktor tried to distract him with his lion, taking it from him and making it do a little dance with its front paws. Yuuko laughed. “Now those are the faces I was expecting to see!”

Yuri quieted down after a while, becoming bored with the word. He and the triplets watched some videos on Lutz’s phone. It was a good answer to their language barrier.

“You three should com in the summer so the kids can run around outside.” Takashi patted Yuuri on the back. “Play on the beach like we did when we were kids.”

“Not sure if we can survive the twelve-hour plane trip twice in one year…”

Yuuko beamed, “Well you guy should at least come down to the rink. So many more kids are skating now that you’ve won gold Yuuri.”

“Yeah, business is booming. I should talk to the higher ups and make you a partner or something.”

“You two are the ones who do such a good job running the place.”

“If anything you two should be asking for a promotion!” Viktor interjected. “If you hadn’t let us use Ice Castle for practice who knows where Yuuri would be now.” He reached behind him, falling back. “Though with me as his coach, he was bound to get further than he did in the last final. So perhaps silver. But the rink is what boosted that up to a gold!”

“… Thanks?” Takashi responded.

Meanwhile, the triplets were teaching Yuuri some more Japanese.

“Raion,” Loop said while pointing to the stuffed lion.

“Rion?” Yuri repeated. The three girls nodded. He lifted the lion up to the girl’s faces. “Lev.”

“Lev?” Loop said. Yuri nodded. The three triplets repeated the word together, ecstatic. The back and forth exchange went on for a while, long enough that when the adult’s conversation teetered off they just sat and watched the kids teach each other.

As nice as it was to see Yuri make friends, his papa was just glad he was learning more appropriate words.

* * *

 The next day the family took up the Nishigori’s offer and visited ice castle. Just as Yuuko had promised, the place was busy. Not packed per say but there were some kids and teenagers skating around the rink. Before Yuuri left for Detroit the rink always looked like this. But as Minako explained when he returned home, kids didn’t really skate anymore. Yuuko had confirmed that even expressing her fear that the place might go under. Then Viktor came and suddenly everyone wanted to skate there. Though it was all in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Viktor Nikiforov and his new student.

It was nice to see that after all the hype had died down, Ice Castle’s popularity remained. Though there were still a few remnants from the chaos. “Papa!” Yuri exclaimed, pointing at a poster as he entered the building. With the spray of pink cherry blossoms, Yuuri recognized it as the poster that flooded the train station when he came home from Detroit. He felt his stomach do a back flip, just like the first time he saw it.

“God…” he muttered without thinking.

“Look how young you look Yuuri! Such cute cheeks.” Viktor poked his husband’s face.

“I must have been nineteen when that picture was taken…”

“Papa!” Yuri exclaimed again.

“Not more…”

To Yuuri’s horror, there were more, much more. Some he was barely featured in, like the International Figure Skating Classic, while others he was the literal poster boy for. The Japan Open had him right in the middle wearing his old white outfit with a gladiator style belt. “Where did they even get these?” He thought aloud. The most likely answer was Minako, since she came to most of these events or some higher up who had connections in the the ISU.

“Hey!” Yuuko called from behind the front desk. “You guys came!”

“Of course!” Viktor replied matching her excitement.

Yuuri on the other hand, spoke in his most deadpan tone. “Where did you guys get these posters?”

“Never mind that, let’s get you guys some skates. Oh, does Yuri need a pair?”

“I wanna skate!” He spoke in Russian. “Skaato-kuuzu!”

“Wow,” Yuuko responded in English though she quickly fell back into Japanese. “You’re already teaching him how to skate?”

Yuuri responded, deciding to put the posters aside (and hoping Viktor would forget about them once they started skating), “He’s surprisingly good at it.”

“He is the son of two figure skating legions. I’ll grab our kid skates.”

“I haven’t worn rented skates since…” Viktor paused, touching his chin. “Have I ever worn rented skates?”

Once everyone was fitted they took to the ice. “Hold papa’s hand,” Yuuri offered.

“No!” and with that Yuri was off, never too far ahead from his parents but clearly on his own. With his short legs Yuuri knew the boy couldn’t get very far, so he relaxed holding Viktor’s hand as they skated together.

“I feel like those young couples at the Spectator.”

Yuuri raised a brow. “Viktor we’re not old.”

“ _You’re_ not. I’m almost thirty.”

“I’m sure Yakov would love to hear you complain about age.”

“Would you believe me if I said he doesn’t?”

The thought of Viktor whining about his age while Yakov fumed made Yuuri laugh. He bumped into Viktor’s arm, giving his husband the perfect chance to lean into a kiss. Their lips met and Yuuri did feel like the couples he saw outside the Spectator Theater. He had never gone skating there himself but with the string lights and grand pillars of the theater, everything there looked like something out of an old film.

Glancing over his shoulder Yuri caught his parents kissing. “Stop being gross!” He shouted at them.

* * *

 “We’re home!” Viktor sang as they entered Yu-topia.

Hiroko poked her head into the main entrance. “Ah, my boys are back! You three were gone a long time.” It was started to get dark out and Yuri was in his papa’s arms, tired out from a long day of skating.

Toshiya came out of his office, chuckling. “Yurio looks exhausted. Did you carry him all the way back from the rink?”

“Most of the way…” Yuuri admitted. Little Yuri struggled to keep his eyes open, his hands gripping Yuuri’s coat like it was a blanket. 

Toshiya lifted his arms out. “Come here you, come to grandpa.”

“No…” Yuri whined rubbing his face into Yuuri’s coat.

“Aw come on, I got some nice sweets in my office you can try. Yuuri loved them when he was a kid.” Toshiya touched Yuri’s back, only to have the boy reach back and slap his hand.

“No!” He said again like he had just been woken up from sleep by a violent dream. “That’s not grandpa!” He looked up at his papa. “Not my grandpa!”

“Okay… s-someone needs a nap.” Yuuri stuttered.

Viktor stepped in, taking Yuri in his arms. “I’ve got him. You go see your family okay?” Before Yuuri could argued, Viktor was off, a whimpering Yuri in his arms.

Yuuri looked back at his father. “Dad, I’m sorry. Yuri—I love him, but he can get… he’s been talking about his grandfather a lot and I’m not sure what he—“

Yuuri was cut off by his father’s hands clasping his shoulders. “It’s alright, Yuuri. I raised two kids of my own you know.” He gave his son a wink. “I know how they can get.”

“Thanks, dad…” He still felt a swirling in his stomach.

“You and Viktor have done a great job with him. I’ll admit I was pretty worried when you said you were going to adopt so soon after marriage. I mean—your mother and I had Mari pretty quickly but, well we were young.” Yuuri felt a different swirling in his stomach, a feeling he hadn’t felt since his father saw the mass of Viktor posters on his wall as a teen and told him about the birds and the bees (which turned out to be pretty useless for his gay son but points for trying). “You know we waited a while to have you. Figured Mari was old enough to take care of herself and we could focus more on you.”

Toshiya laughed, rubbing his neck. “Boy did we miscalculate there huh?”

“Dad?”

Toshiya shook his head. “Yuuri, you know we’ve always wanted nothing more than for you to be happy right?”

“Of course!” Yuuri’s stood straight like he had just been called up by the principal. “You guys always supported me with skating—“

“In spirit,” Toshiya interjected. “We never could make it to many matches.”

“You had the hot springs to worry about…” Yuuri was born just before Hasetsu started its depression. The hot springs were hit the worst, most of them old and already pulling in half the business they were expected.

Yu-topia survived but at the cost of Mari’s schooling and lots of vacations. The only family budget that wasn’t slashed was that of Yuuri’s skating. He got new skates when he needed them and there was never a question about affording a coach. Yuuri remembered hiding his busted up skates from his parents so they wouldn’t take him shopping, and how prize money didn’t even excite him because every penny of it went to his coach.

“I’ll never forget the day you went to Detroit. It was like I was pacing outside your mom’s room at the hospital all over again.” Yuuri furrowed his brows, not sure what his dad meant. “I knew you’d do well in the states but I had no idea when I would see you again. Turned out to be a full five years later. I know you’ll hate me for saying this but I was glad when your season ended early and you got to come home.”

“Dad no—“ He pulled his father into a hug to get him to shut up. “I miss you a lot.” He pulled out of the hug still holding his dad’s arms. “I wanted nothing more than you guys to see me skate. Even when I failed at the grand prix…” There was so much he wanted to say. About their sacrifices, about their support, how they accepted him for everything he was. But talk was cheap. “I want you guys to be apart of Yuri’s life. I don’t care if it’s a pain to get here, you are Yuri’s grandpa and mom is his grandmother. I want you to be in his life.”

“As do I!” Viktor was standing in the doorway, smiling. “Yu-topia is like a second home to me, it’s got mom and dad and the best food I’ve ever had all in one place.”

Toshiya laughed again. “Thanks, son.” He turned back to his birth son. “And thank you too. Don’t tell Mari but I was worried I’d never get to have any grandchildren. Now that I’ve seen Yuri I can die happy!”

“Don’t die, dad.”

“Yeah,” Viktor added. “Yuri hadn’t even won his first gold yet. You’ve got to live to see that.”

“Oh, is he going to be a world class figure skater like his parents?”

Viktor nodded, smiling like a school girl. “He’s already skating by himself.”

“Wow! you don’t say?” He waved the two into the dining room. “Let's talk Yurio's Olympic promise over dinner, yeah?”

“I hadn’t even thought about the Olympics. I bet he could get on the Russian team by the time he’s fourteen!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kubo-Sensei let Viktor call that Katsuki's mom and dad in season 2 please I'll give you my first born.  
> Also, I hope you like another longer chapter. By the time this is posted I'll most certainly be back at college so it's more papers than fanfiction for me but I'll keep at it! φ(´ω｀= )


	7. Simple as That

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 80 years.  
> I went back to school and got caught up in you know... school.

Hiroko had been the one to suggest a date for the pair. “You won’t have to hire a babysitter or anything, just leave Yurio to us.” Even with a steady babysitter at home Yuuri and Viktor hadn’t gone on a date in… ever really. Dates hadn’t really been a big part of their relationship, before or after Yuri. Unless they counted skating practices as dates. They ate at restaurants while traveling just out of convenience. Not to mention their friends always found a way to join in. Which neither of them minded since they weren’t on a date. At least, Yuuri was pretty sure they weren’t.

Viktor seemed excited about the prospect of a night out. “We can go to that ramen place I like.” He pressed his cheek against Yuuri’s shoulder. “And you and I can get some of that alone time we talked about…”

Yuuri ran his fingers through Viktor’s silver hair. “You don’t have to convince me.” Even with the chilly air and the recent snow fall Yuuri wanted nothing more than to go on a long walk with Viktor. Holding hands and revisiting the sites where they first fell in love. But there was one thing that bothered him. “If Yuri is being temperamental don’t hesitate to call us.”

“Yuuri!” Viktor whined, knowing full well his son would throw some sort of temperament at his grandparents.

“Viktor, he doesn’t understand Japanese. We’ll just tell him to behave over the phone. I _do_ want to have some time with my husband you know?”

“Well good.” Viktor moved to rest his head on Yuuri’s lap. “I miss getting to rest my head here. Moë always takes my favorite spots.”

Yuuri felt his cheeks grow pink. He refused to make eye contact with his mother, who he could hear giggling across the table.

Mari saved the day, rubbing her arms as she walked into the room. “God it’s freezing out there.”

“Was there good meat at the market?” Hiroko asked.

“Yeah, I put in the fridge.” Yuri came running in with a towel over his head and something in his arms. All his outerwear had been stripped away and his hair was wet. “Also I bought sweets.” Little Yuri sat in Hiroko’s lap, pointing at the different characters painted on pieces of manju.

“Why?” Yuuri asked.

“Yurio wanted them.”

“You can’t just give him everything he wants. Especially sweets.”

“What? I’m not allowed to be the fun aunt who buys him things?” Yuuri felt Viktor chuckle against his legs.

“Batya!” Yuri ran over to the other side of the table. He crawled into Yuuri’s lap, his feet pressing against Viktor’s shoulders and wet stomach against Viktor’s head. “Batya look!” He showed off the sweets.

“Moë you’re freezing. Please get off Batya.”

* * *

 

“Behave for grandma and aunt Mari okay?” Yuri gave his papa a nod before the pair left for their date. The dining room was empty for once, the abandoned TV stuck on a news rerun. Yuri got up to look for someone to play with, his lion pillow around his neck. It kept his neck warm and he liked looking over to see a little lion face looking back at him. Yuri poked his head into the kitchen to find it empty. He frowned. Yuri learned quickly that Hiroko was busy preparing drinks and food for guests. Whenever he wanted something to eat he would run in knowing she was there to give him some miso or soba salad. The best was when it was around lunch time when she gave him rice balls. Sometimes she’d even put extra pieces of seaweed on to make it look like a cat, just for him.

If he wanted sweets he went to Mari. She didn’t have any qualms about giving him the jelly kept in a high cupboard. Though she was much harder to find, always helping people with luggage or cleaning rooms. Yuri stomped his feet as he walked through the halls, not sure where to look next. Turning a corner, he literally ran into Toshiya his forehead hitting his grandfather’s fat belly. “Oh, Yurio.” Toshiya placed his hands on his knees, leaning down to talk to his grandson. “I guess your parents went out for their little date night huh?” Toshiya often forgot that Yuri didn’t speak very much Japanese.

Yuri furrowed his brows. Toshiya was in his office most days only coming out for meals and a late night drink. Though Yuri was in bed by the time that discourse began. He only knew about it after waking up one night and wanting a snack. So he wandered back to the kitchen and saw Toshiya dancing about with a group of guests from the window that opened to the dining room. It was just weird to him till one of the guests tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground, causing an uproar of laughter from the drunk bunch. Yuri laughed as well, always a fan of slapstick.

He didn’t know what to make of Toshiya. Besides the fact that he wasn’t the grandpa that Yuri knew. His grandpa was much taller and had a scratchy beard and sometimes brought him tasty food. Yuri also understood what his grandpa was saying.

Seeing the sour look on Yuri’s face Toshiya reached into his back pocket. “Don’t tell your grandma okay?” Toshiya presented his grandson with a closed fist. Curious, Yuri held his hands out. His grandfather dropped a piece of candy with a pink wrapper in his hand. Yuri’s eyes widened. He looked up at Toshiya to see him pressing a finger against his lips, a symbol all school children knew well. He quickly ripped off the pink wrapper, revealing a candy just as pink as it’s packaging pink. It was somewhat translucent like an unpolished piece of quartz. He popped it in his mouth.

“Hm?” The candy was sweet but not a sweet he was used to. The hard candies back home were much more savory, made of toffee or nuts. This one had a much fresher taste, fruity. Yuri began to bounce on his toes, humming as the peach candy melted on his tongue. Toshiya laughed and ruffled his grandson’s hair.

This grandpa wasn’t perfect but at least he gave out sweets.

* * *

 

 Yuuri spoke absentmindedly, focusing on the paper lanterns hanging above his head. “So this is where you drank all those months…” The ramen bar felt rather spacy. The lanterns gave everything a yellow tint and Yuuri could feel the cool of the night against his back, but the heat of the pots warmed his face. He was reminded of those sci-fi movies where the hero looks out the window of his vessel for the first time, a sharp contrast between the darkness of space and the bright inner ship.

“You make me sound like I was a drunkard those couple months,” Viktor wined.

Yuuri continued to look at the lanterns. “Didn’t you know, we have a nickname for you, Vodka-Viichan, the Russian menace.”

“Was I that bad?” Yuuri didn’t even have to look to know what face Viktor was pulling. The one with droopy eyes and a half frown. Yuuri wished he could look that cute when he was upset.

“I’m just joking. You weren’t terrible. You did drink more than I expected you to. What with you coming here to coach and whatnot.”

Viktor crossed his arms. “Some days were more frustrating than others.”

“You mean my skating?”

“What?” Viktor dropped his arms. “No, no!” He waved his hands back and forth wildly. “Your skating was always wonderful—“

“Even the first time I skated Eros?”

“You got better at it, I think your gold metal proved that.” He placed his elbow on the bar, resting his chin in his hand. “I think… I was more frustrated with myself. First time coaching woes.”

Viktor wasn’t a bad coach, again Yuuri’s gold proved that, but he was a harsh one. Yuuri knew his younger self couldn’t have handled a coach like Viktor. A perfectionist to the point he was a tyrant. Minako would always ask him what Viktor had scolded him about _this time_ while they sat in the kiss and cry. The only time Viktor didn’t critique after the performance was the free program at the final. Yuuri had never gone back to watch his free skate. Viktor’s coaching had gotten to him and he was sure to critique his work worse than any judge.

“though I was frustrated with you as well.”

Yuuri coughed on his tea. “Wh-why?”

Viktor only had to say two words. “The banquet.” Yuuri groaned, hanging his head in his hands while Viktor continued. “You, the sixth place skater from Japan, comes over drunk as a sailor and starts a dance off in front of everyone. Then you stripped—“

“Stop!” Yuuri reached out to cover his husband’s mouth but Viktor grabbed his wrists.

“You stripped and pole danced with Chris of all people!” He tugged at Yuuri’s wrists so they were face to face. Viktor smiled at Yuuri with glee. “And to top if off you swept me off my feet like a prince rescuing a princess.” Yuuri bit the inside of his lip. His cheeks grew pink. He wrapped his hands around Viktor’s but his husband pulled away. “ _Then_ you ignored me at the airport! I wanted to die! It was like flubbing a jump in front of the judges but _worse_!”

He couldn’t keep himself from laughing. “Sorry.” He leaned over and kissed Viktor’s cheek. “If it makes you feel any better, I spent those months paranoid you would think I was a weirdo.”

“What, because of the posters?” Yuuri felt the blood drain from his face. “I thought it was cute. You really had a nice collection.”

“Thanks…” Fifteen-year-old Yuuri would have died if Viktor appreciated his skater otaku collecting. Twenty-five-year-old Yuuri on the other hand, dreaded the thought. It was so easy to imagine his husband giggling at the number of posters. “I need a drink.”

Viktor almost squealed. “They have really good sake here.” 

* * *

 

“Dad. Why are you on the floor?” Mari loomed over her father who was on his hands and knees, craning his head to look under a kotatsu.

He smiled. “Ah, I’m just looking for Yurio.”

“You lost him?”

“No, no, we’re playing hide and seek!”

Mari sighed, putting her hands on her hips. “How long have you been looking for him?”

Toshiya was quiet. “A while…” He stood up, dusting off his knees. “I’m sure it’s fine. He couldn’t have run off.”

“Did you check the baths?”

“First place I checked. I know he loved running around in there.”

The public baths were the warmest place in Yu-Topia. Maybe the warmest place in all of Hatsetsu in the dead of winter. Yuri would sometimes sneak in and just sit in the steam. When it was bath time he would insist on using the hot springs instead of the Katsuki’s home bath. Yuuri and Viktor didn’t mind. Most kids were the opposite of excited to take a bath. Though it was difficult to explain to him he wasn’t supposed to splash around the bath like in a pool.

Mari shook her head. “You took on a tall order dad.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a billion places to hide in this old place. It took me a good two hours to find Yuri one time. He was crying in the storage room apparently.”

“ _Oh._ ” His face fell. Toshiya wasn’t as anxious as his son but their relation was clear whenever he did get nervous. Both would open their mouth like a trout and start to stutter as if a strong wind chill just blew in. “I-I’m sure I’ll find him. Yurio!” He started to wander out of the room. “Yuri!”

Still standing in the main dining room Mari heard something inside the old tansu. She slid open the main door to find a little Yuri curled up in a ball and giggling. Mari raised her brows, impressed by the child’s flexibility.

Mari crossed her arms over her chest. Yuri's body tensed.“Nice job kid.” Yuri replied with a grin. “You wanna stay in here?” He nodded and Mari shut the door, laughing with herself as she went to follow her father. She’d tell him eventually.

* * *

 

Yuuri and Viktor had their arms around each other, looking more like two college students coming home from a bar crawl than husbands. “We drunk the whole bottle,” Viktor slurred.

Yuuri let out a laugh, his breath fogging up his glasses. “I think we drank more than that.” Viktor rested his head on Yuuri’s shoulder, humming to himself. “Don’t drop on me now. You’re too heavy to carry back.”

“Hmm… you’re a gold winner… you can do it.”

“And yoooou sir, won five medals. You should be carrying me home!”

Viktor looked across the bridge over the water. “I want to swim.”

“What?”

“Come on,” he slipped out from Yuuri’s arm and grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward. “Swimming.”

“It’s January—“ Nothing slowed the stubborn Viktor. The man was stubborn enough when he was sober. Give him a couple drinks and he’d smash down a wall if it stood between him and what he wanted.

They made it to the end of the bridge. Viktor slid down the hill to the beach. “Viktor, the water is freezing!” Still on the hill Yuuri jumped forward, landing on top of Viktor and pushing them both to the ground. Viktor landed on his side and Yuuri fell beside him. “No swimming…” he gargled. Viktor turned on his side to look at Yuri, his blue eyes glazed over. Yuri too was in a haze, but looking at Viktor he felt a pang in his chest. Blinking he chimed, “Viktor?”

His husband lifted his chin. “No swimming,” Viktor agreed before kissing Yuri’s nose. Viktor’s shoulder’s tensed as he shivered. “It’s cold out…”

“I told you.”

Viktor sat up, his hands digging into the sand. Yuuri followed, whipping his glasses on the collar of his shirt. Viktor covered his mouth, muffled laughs escaping. “You have sand in your hair.”

“You’re sand!” Yuuri exclaimed before jumping Viktor again, this time landing on his chest. He kissed Viktor deeply, holding his face in his hands. Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri, pulling their bodies closer. Yuuri eventually pulled away, pulling at the bottom of Viktor’s lip.

Viktor flushed, his hand moving up to fluff Yuuri’s hair. “Dorogoy….” He kissed Yuuri’s forehead. “We should get home… we can finish this at home.” He sat up, Yuuri still resting on his chest. “You better remember this tomorrow.”

Holding each other they made it back to Yu-Tupia. Mari greeted them, “You guys are back earlier than I expected. Didn’t go clubbing?”

“Vitya is too old for that,” Yuuri teased smiling at his husband.

Hiroko entered the foyer. “My, you two look like you had fun.” Both were red faced and Yuri had that grin his father had when he was drunk. “Yurio is asleep. So is your father. He really tired him out while you were gone!”

“They were playing?” Yuuri asked, recalling his son’s outburst the other day.

“I want to see moë,” Viktor mumbled. “Where is my little Yuri?”

“Come on…” Yuuri grumbled, knowing Viktor wouldn’t let up till he saw his son. “Now be quiet.” Viktor responded by shushing in Yuuri’s ear.

The door slid open, the light from the hallway showing a sleeping Yuri. He had one lion under his arm, the rest surrounding his head like a halo. He liked having his pride protect him. “He’s so perfect…” Viktor cooed. He stumbled forward, laying down on the floor next to Yuri. Yuuri followed, mirroring Viktor on the floor. Viktor pushed a strand of blond hair out of his son’s sleeping face. Yuuri chuckled, recalling the hundreds of dreams and nightmares he had about getting a child all those months ago. Even in his scenarios where everything was hell, Viktor was still the perfect father. It was impossible for Yuuri to imagine him yelling or hurting a child. Especially their own child.

Though Yuri wasn’t _completely_ their child. Legally yes. But biologically… and perhaps even emotionally…

“Do you ever think about Yuri’s mother?”

“Hm?” Viktor didn’t look away from his son’s sleeping face. Yuri didn’t stir, his chest slowly rising and falling.

“Yuri’s birth mother…”

“She gave him up to the state. She has no claim to him.” Yuuri raised his brows at the sharpness in Viktor’s voice. Perhaps Viktor had his own nightmare scenarios. Ones where the birth parents showed up or the state took their son away from them.

“Viktor… he has a family out there somewhere.”

“We’re his family.” Viktor leaned over to kiss the top of Yuri’s head. For a moment Viktor lay there, his eyes closed and his face buried in blond hair. He whispered, “ya lyubly tebya,” before getting up.

Yuuri stayed back, watching his son for another moment. The child he and Viktor had promised to raise and love. He, Viktor, and no one else.

Except was more complicated than that.

* * *

 

The bags were all packed up in Minako’s car, and so far no one had cried. Yuuri didn’t expect his family to tear up, they had remained chipper even when he went off to America. Viktor on the other hand… “I’m going to miss you all so much!” He had his arms wrapped around Toshiya and Hiroko. “Please come to Russia to visit!”

“Ah, but who will run Yu-Topia then?” Toshiya joked. He hadn’t taken a day off since he inherited the place from his parents almost thirty years ago.

Viktor pulled away from the couple, then turned to his son. “Did you say goodbye, Yurio?”

Yuri nodded just as Mari reached over to ruffle his hair. “I’m gonna miss you little guy.”

Yuri darted for Mari’s legs wrapping his body around one of them. “No!” he exclaimed.

Yuuri got down on his knees. “You don’t want to leave Mari?”

“No!” Yuri shouted again, his face buried in Mari’s pant leg.

Mari reached down to pick up the tot. “Yurio…” The child sniffed as a tear fell down his cheek. Mari whipped it away. “I’ll come visit okay? I’ll see you again.” Yuri sniffled again, whipping his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

“Before you go, we have a gift for you three.” Hiroko reached behind the screen to the dining room and pulled out a white box.

Toshiya sang, “It’s just a little thing but I think all three of you will like it.”

Hiroko pushed the box towards Viktor. Taking it he pulled the cardboard top off, revealing a yellow sweater with a blue Y on the front. Yuuri’s eyes grew wide. He lifted it out of the box. “Where did you—“

“I found it while cleaning,” Mari explained, still carrying Yuri in her arms. “You were such a chubby kid I bet Yurio will be able to wear it for a long time!”

Viktor held the bottom of the sweater, running his thumbs over the worn knitting. “You used to wear this?” He asked and Yuuri nodded. “You must have looked so cute dorogoy!” He reached to hug his in-laws again. “Thank you for this. And for everything.” He pulled away and gave Mari half a hug before taking Yuri from her. “You will come to Russia, yes?”

Mari just shrugged. “Depends on how busy this place is.”

Yuuri hugged his parents. “We’ll see you guys next year. I promise.” They could afford it. Yuuri didn’t want to wait five years to see his parents. Never again. And his son deserved to know his grandparents.

As they made their way to Minako’s car the Katsuki’s stood in the doorway and waved. “Ki wo tsuukee” Yuri shouted as he waved back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was about half way done with this chapter when I got back to school and had a block but then [ tibberius drew Yuuri in his sweater from ep 1](http://tibberius.tumblr.com/post/157040214810/1c-and-yuri-k-cause-he-deserves-to-be-a-happy-boy) and all I thought was _Yurio needs that_.  
>  Also angel-helena is my tumblr if you're interested in following!


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